One Of Those Days
by its-never-lupus
Summary: Yeah...more complete randomness, courtesy of moi! Yeah...there will be more slashiness in the next chapter, I promise! Plz read and review!
1. Introductions

I don't own the Newsies, Disney does, but if you don't recognize  
the nickname, they're one of mine. I own the school, the  
teachers, and the rest of the student body, though. So, enjoy,  
and reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!  
  
Blink  
$$$$$$$$$  
I hate my life! No, seriously! I'm sixteen years old, and I've  
never been on a date in my life. Not that there are any guys I'd  
this school that I'd WANT to date. Yes, I said guy. Get off my  
case! YEESH! So, anyway, what was I doing? Oh, yeah, wallowing  
in self-pity. "AAAAH!" I screamed, 'cause someone had just  
punched me in the arm. "Jesus, Blink, calm down. You're getting  
to be as high-strung as Skitts. And that ain't a good thing."  
Oh. It was just Spot. My heart rate returned to normal. "So,  
Blinky-boy, ready for Ms. Stork's history test?" "First, never  
EVER call me 'Blinky-boy' EVER again. And second, yes, I studied  
last night, Gabriel, unlike SOME people who never study, and  
still get all A's! How is that fair?!" Spot smiled that million-  
watt smile that brings girls to their knees. Not that he cares.  
Spot's gay, but then, so am I, as you already know. "It's a  
gift. And kissin' ass doesn't hurt either." I rolled my eyes.  
Spot may be an egotistical jerk sometimes, but if it weren't for  
him (or any of my friends, for that matter), I wouldn't have  
survived freshman year. Spot, Jack, Snitch, Skitts, Specs,  
Dutchy, and I have all been friends for years. We call ourselves  
the Seven Silly Eaters, which was our favorite book in 1st  
grade. And the name has just sort of stuck since then. Yes,  
we're psycho. But that's what makes us fun, And just wait 'till  
you meet the girls in our little friendship ring. Hoo, boy!  
Watch out!  
$$$$$$$$$  
Dave  
$$$$$$$$$  
You ever have one of those days where NOTHING goes your way?  
Yeah. That was happening to me this morning. I just moved here,  
and today was my first day at East Brooklyn High. To start off  
my morning from hell, I didn't wake up until half an hour after  
my alarm went off, then I had to play a REEEEEALLY demented game  
of 'Let's Remember Which Box Has Dave's Grooming Products In  
It'. Then we had nothing for breakfast except Pop-tarts (I'm  
going to die of calorie overdose, I swear! There's like, 220  
calories in ONE of them! And I ate TWO!! AUGGGGGGGGH!! Just  
kidding.), and then my car wouldn't start. I guess I should  
mention my car is a hunk of junk Ford Taurus that's about 15  
years old, always need repairs, and is in desperate need of a  
paint job. Finally, after I kicked the gas cap, of all places,  
it started, and I drove off to my first day at my new school,  
listening to 'Sweet Child of Mine'. Guns 'n' Roses ROX! (A/N:  
They really do! Go, Axel!)  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, sweet child of mine!"  
(Insert head-banging here.)  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, sweet child of mine!"  
Then my CD ended. "DAMN!" I was also at my new school, so I  
guess you could call it perfect timing. More like the worst  
timing possible. I got out of my car, fumbled around in my  
backpack till I found my CD player, noticed the batteries were  
dying, and stuck in Guns 'n' Roses: The Greatest Hits. And I  
walked toward the 3-story brick prison I knew I would absolutely  
HATE! You shoulda seen me: Head down, shoulders slumped, Guns  
'n' Roses blaring. And that's when I ran into her. About 5'8",  
blond hair, blue eyes, curvier than most, but I wouldn't say  
fat, toned arms, tan. "Sorry", I muttered. "I didn't see you."  
"'S OK, I've bumped into my fair share of people when I'm in one  
of what my friends call 'Oblivious-to-the-world-music-funks'.  
She smiled at me and stuck out her hand. "I'm Elizabeth, but if  
it's all the same to you, please call me Spitfire. Everyone else  
does." "I'm Dave." I liked her almost at once. She gave off a  
distinct 'I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me-so-fuck-off' vibe.  
"You must be new, I thought I knew everybody, but I've never  
seen you around bef..." she trailed off in mid-sentence. "Is that  
Guns 'n' Roses?" "Yeah. Why?" "I LOVE Guns 'n' Roses! Oh my God!  
I have all their CD's (A/N: Not really), and I listen to them  
all the time! (A/N: Again, not really! ^-^) You have to meet my  
girlfriends, and The Seven Silly Eaters! We're sort of Guns 'n'  
Roses freaks." OK, OK!" I laughed. Now I knew why she was called  
Spitfire. She grabbed my hand and tugged me toward a set of  
double oak doors with a plaque on it that read 'Cafeteria'.  
"It's lunchtime. You lucked out and got here between classes.  
You are about to learn how The Seven Silly Eaters got their  
name."  
Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all. 


	2. Hot Dogs and Maple Syrup

I own nothing. If you don't recognize the nickname, however, I made them up or based them off of one of my friends. I own the school, teachers, student body, etc. So please, don't sue me!  
  
Blink  
  
Ah, lunchtime. Where we demonstrate to the whole of East Brooklyn High why we're called the Seven Silly Eaters. If you're a true idiot and really don't get, I guess I'll be forced to spell it out for you. We each get two trays, (2x7=14, you with me so far?), pile them up to our chins with food, then we sit down and proceed to eat all of our food, and, of course, we eat the strangest combinations known to mankind. Spitfire has been known to join us, she's kinda cool like that. She's known us since 3rd grade, when she transferred to our grammar school. I knew we'd get along great when she called the teacher a fat, ugly, uncreative cow and proceeded to chuck Play- doh at her. She got in a shitload of trouble just for that, but she sealed her cool status forever when she picked a piece of Play-doh up off the floor, ate it, and said, "Mmmm...tastes like chicken." The eight of us were super close after that. Now, she's grown up a little bit, but she still eats carrots and ketchup, cauliflower and mustard, and hot dogs and maple syrup. Now, I could see her coming toward us, dragging a new guy by the hand, and she appeared to be laughing her head off. But when he got closer, my heart stopped and my jaw dropped. He was absolutely gorgeous. He was about 6 ft., with curly brown hair, large, deep brown eyes, a mouth with full, pouty lips, and a killer bod, from what I could see. Fuck. I was in love. Head-over-heels in love. And I didn't even know the guy's name. But Spitfire, as usual, took care of that. "Guys, this is Dave. He just moved here from Chicago. As far as I know, he's straight. So, until he says otherwise, Spot, Snitch, Skitt-hands off!" I laughed, then, even as I watched, Dave turned bright red. "Oh, how cute, Spitfire. New kid's only been here, what, ten minutes? And already you've managed to embarrass him", said a new girl's voice. "Band Geek, be quiet. And where the hell are Natalie, Crazer, Dr. Allen, and all them jazz?" "Duh, duh, duh, duh duh, that jazz! They're somewhere." Let me explain. Spitfire made a ring of friends in elementary school (that would be us), and then she made another, her friends in band, drama, choir, etc. We boys have sort of appointed ourselves Spitfire's guardians against guys who come on to her when she doesn't want them to. Of course, her boyfriend could do that just as easily, but him, plus the six of us, makes it a lot more menacing. Hee hee. Strength in numbers and all that. Did I mention her boyfriend, Jack Kelly, is captain of the both the football AND wrestling teams? So, yeah, it's like she has her own team of bodyguards.  
  
Spitfire 

Hola. Me llamo Spitfire, y tu eres muy estupidas. What does that mean? Figure it out! Tu mama! Anyway, I'm only here to explain a few things and introduce a couple of people. You met Band Geek, and heard about Natalie, Crazer, and Dr. Allen. Well, Band Geek got me throwing shot put, finagled me into joining marching band, and is obsessed with her band teacher. Oh, yeah, her name is Amanda. Crazer is my friend. (I'd tell you her name, but she'd kill me.) Crazer is, well, crazy. And she's totally OBSESSED with Johnny Depp. And she makes the weirdest sounds EVER! Sheesh. Dr. Allen is my friend, Alec. His twin Eric's nickname is Dutchy. I thought of calling them Dutchy 1 and Dutchy 2, since they're Dutch, but that sounds REEEEEALLYY corny. So we call Alec Dr. Allen because of a role he portrayed in our school play 'The Girl In The Mirror'. My friend Linz goes by Natalie, you know, one of Charlie's Angels? She loves that movie. And then there's Buddy. What more can be said? We call him Godfather: 1.) Because he looks Italian and 2.) He can do a mean Marlon Brando accent. Next, we have Linz's boyfriend, Levi. We call him Jeans because of his name, you know, Levi's Jeans, and all that jazz. And last, but not least, Lucky Ace, or sometimes just Ace, Koji. And he ALWAYS wins when we play games at lunch. It's not fair! Hence, the nickname Lucky. There are more people, but they're minor, and you'll meet them later. As I mentioned, Spot, Snitch, and Skitts are all gay. Which is why I told them to stay away unless Dave said he was gay. But as soon as I saw the look on Blink's face, I knew he was gay. But I didn't care. He's still one of my best friends. I felt an arm around my shoulders, a set of lips on my cheek. My boyfriend, Jack Francis Patrick Kelly. But he's VERY touchy about his middle name, but his mother's Irish, so what could he do? "Hey, babe" he whispered in my ear. "Hey, sexy!" I chirped, almost mechanically. He laughed and sat down next to me. Now, I know what you're thinking: What's a guy that sounds extremely handsome and popular doing with a music and drama freak like me? It's complicated, but to make a long story short, he had to do a non-sport extracurricular activity, or risk being kicked off the wrestling team. So he auditioned for the school play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and we ended up opposite each other in the leading roles. We've been going out for about a year now, but the spark that was there at the beginning of our relationship died, and I can't figure out a way to end it pleasantly. Yes, there's someone else! But back to Blink. If he wanted Dave, I was gonna help him snag him. Blink deserved a little happiness, after all he's, what, 16? 17? And he's never been on a date in his life. Besides, I could tell Dave was gonna fit in good with 'my crew' and me. It'd give Blink a chance to get to know him better. I LOVE playing matchmaker! Anyway, this is the upshot of my ramblings. I'll come back every now and again to tie up loose ends and move things along. Now, back to your regularly scheduled narrator!  
  
Dave

I allowed myself to be dragged along by Spitfire toward an overcrowded table that was actually two tables pushed together. "OK, these are my friends, starting with Jack"-she pointed to the good-looking guy sitting next to her-"And going around the table. Not everyone's here, you'll meet them all eventually. OK, this is Jack, Specs"-a guy with funky '70's style glasses-"Dutchy"-a blond guy that looked Scandinavian-"Snitch"-a small, wiry little guy who seemed to radiate energy-"Skittery"-a tall guy who lived up to his name, his eyes were darting everywhere-"Band Geek"-a tall girl with frizzy brown hair and huge arms, I mean she had muscles!-"Crazer"- a shorter, stockier blond girl wearing a T-shirt that said 'Kiss Me, I'm A Pirate'-"And last, but not least, Dr. Allen"-Dutchy's identical twin, except with more chiseled features-"And that's everybody. Everyone that has this lunch period, anyway. Skitts, I'm lazy. Pass me those three hot dogs you haven't touched yet. I'm hungry." Skitts handed them over with much good-natured grumbling. She slathered ketchup on one, mustard on the other, then stole a container of maple syrup off of Dutchy's tray and drizzled it over the third. "Spitfire, you do know that's disgusting, don't you?" asked Dutchy conversationally. "Mmhmm" she mumbled, through hot dog and syrup. She swallowed, then continued. "But it's quite good." I swear, she polished off those three hot dogs in two minutes flat. "I'm gonna go get a Diet Pepsi. Anyone wanna come with?" Band Geek and Dutchy got up. "OK, then. Dave, do you have to go to the office or anything? Turn in a transcript?" I nodded. "Well, OK then. Blink"-she winked at him-"Why don't you show him where the office is?" "Awww, man!" he moaned, then laughed to show he was only kidding. Then the bell rang. Everyone said their goodbyes, and we all went off in different directions. This was the first day in a long time I'd felt happy, really happy.  
  
A/N: OK, I know this was kinda long, but I had to bring in the major characters, set up a plot, etc. The next one's a little shorter, I think. I FINALLY got this done for you, Izzy! Please don't chase me with spears! (cowers in a corner) Anyway, shoutouts: SATURDAY: My biggest fan, my first reviewer, here's hoping you like this chapter as much as the first, and you'll like the ones to follow just as much. Cheers! 


	3. Transcripts, Spanish, and Led Zeppelin

Disclaimer: Don't own the Newsies. Don't own Switchfoot. Everything else is mine. Read on, read on, read on, read until your dream come true! (Aerosmith. Sorry. Couldn't resist.)  
  
Blink  
  
Be still, my heart. She knew. Better yet, she didn't care. She was trying to establish a bond between me and Dave by forcing me to be his tour guide. Woo hoo! Must remember to get her something really good for her birthday. After saying goodbye to everyone, I walked off in the direction of the office, Davie right beside me. "So" I said, in an attempt at conversation. "What d'you think of East Brooklyn High so far?" "It's OK" he replied. "If everybody's like you guys, life is gonna be sweet." I laughed. "My name's not really Blink, y'know? It's actually Trey. I just get called Blink because of my eye." He chuckled. "I sort of figured your mom didn't name you Blink." "Yeah." "So, what's Chicago like?" "Think Brooklyn, the noise, the dirt, confusion, etc.-and then square it." "Oh." "Yep." (A/N: Apologies to those of you who live in Brooklyn or Chicago. I made that stuff up!) I was struggling to find something to take about, and when I think, I tend to hum. This time happened to be "I'll Catch You" by The Get Up Kids. It's a really good song. Then I caught myself assessing Dave. Emphasis on the ass. Then I got jerked out of my reverie by the sound of his voice. "Huh?" "I said, 'Is that 'I'll Catch You' by The get Up Kids?" "Oh. Yeah. It's one of my favorite songs. How do you know it?" "They stopped in Chicago on their U.S. tour, and I went to their concert. That was their closing song." He looked down a his CD player, noticed what was in it, and laughed. "My tastes in music have changed a lot since then." "Mine too. Think less Britney Spears and more AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, etc." We walked in silence the rest of the way to the office. It takes the secretary in there FOREVER to get anything done, but she was quick today. She probably thought Dave was cute or something. BAD! "So, Davey-boi, whatcha got this period?" "Ummm..." He trailed off as he looked down his schedule. "Spanish with Mrs. Miller." "I have that class too!" I said excitedly. "So do Spitfire and Dutchy! Awesomeness! But be forewarned!"-He looked nervous-"Spitfire stumbled across a website listing a bunch of cuss words in Spanish, and she cusses out anyone she doesn't like. Just warnin' ya." He turned slightly green. Man. This kid had a face like a rainbow. "But she thinks you're OK, so you're probably safe." DAVE Great. Just great. She cusses out anyone she doesn't like. Hoo boy! The Spanish classroom was on the top floor, and it seemed impossibly hot. Mrs. Miller seemed like a very nice lady, with a big smile, blond hair, and a killer accent for having blond hair and blue eyes. "¡Hola, David! ¿Donde eres?" "Huh?" "She asked where you're from, Davey-boi" Spitfire chipped in. "Oh. Chicago. I forgot how to say 'I am from'." "That's alright," said Mrs. Miller, a little too cheerfully. "We're working on the imperfect tense, so why don't you have a seat near Mr. Parker and Ms. Krueger. You can look of one of their books until we can get one checked out to you." So I sat, and looked off of Blink's book. "Parker?" I muttered out of the corner of my mouth. "Yeah. My full name is Trey Mathew Parker. But I like Blink, 'cause of my eye, ya know?" "How'd that happen, anyway?" "I was born with one eye slightly bigger than the other, kinda deformed, and with very limited vision in it. So I wear the patch, it's easier that 20 people a day asking how my eye got like that. One girl in 6th grade even asked me if I had a fake eye." I felt slightly ashamed at making him dredge that up. But he didn't really seem to mind too much. In fact, he looked relieved to have gotten that out of the way early on. "Anything else I should know?" I asked. "Yeah. Watch out for Principal Snyder, and Vice Principals Pulitzer and Hearst. Meanest assholes in the whole damn building." "Thanks a lot." "You asked." "Guess I did, didn't I?" Blink just laughed, and raised his hand to answer a question. "¿Si?" said Mrs. Miller. "Iba, ibas, iba, ibamos, ibaron." "Very good, Blink!" Mrs. Miller made a mark on her clipboard. "Dave can you tell us the forms of comer? They're right there on the page." "Ummm..." I scanned down the page. "Comia, comias, comia, comiamos, and uh, comian?" "¡Muy bien!" This went on for another half hour or so. Kind of boring, but tolerable. Mrs. Miller made Spanish more fun than I thought it would be. When the bell rang, I filed out with Blink, Spitfire, and Dutchy. I took out my schedule. "Geometry 7th, then English." "I've got Geometry next", said Blink. "And I've got English 8th!" chipped in Spitfire. (Insert sigh of relief here.) With friends in at least three of my classes for sure, this school ROX! Does a weird happy dance I'm better now. So, I trooped off to Geometry with Blink, where I met the monster: Ms. Penner. She was ultra-strict and ultra-tough. "That class could not possibly have gone any slower!" I moaned to Blink. "Oh, yes, it could have! If she'd gotten into a lecture about God-knows-what, we would've been there FOREVER! Or at least, it would've felt like forever. Hey, usually all of us head down to McDonalds after school? Only thing is, Spitfire usually drives, and she's got a minivan and goes about 80. You in?" A minivan doing 80? There's a sight you don't see every day. I am so THERE!" We said our goodbyes, and I trooped off to English. Now, I thought Penner was bad. But Harder was HELL! She looked at me, told me to find an empty seat, and kept writing on the blackboard. I took an empty seat next to Spitfire. "Is she always like this?" "No. Today, she's in a good mood. Enjoy it." Great. Just great. "OK, we're starting our poetry unit, so I'll pass out this packet, put your name on it, then"-She looked over at some girls who were talking. "Do you wanna teach the class, Leigh?" "No", said Leigh quietly. "Then I suggest you be quiet and pay attention." Perfect. We spent the hour learning about Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. During those 50 minutes of pure hell, a guy named Conner accidentally on purpose fell out of his chair twice, Crazer (who also had that class), made weird sounds innumerable times, and mentioned Johnny Depp three times, which annoyed Liz so much she started singing," This is the song that doesn't end!" which, in turn, annoyed Harder so much, she threatened to send Liz to the office if she didn't be quiet right that second. Then the bell rang, and we practically sprinted for the door. "Hey, Crazer. We still on for McDonalds?" "Yeah, I guess. Who all's coming?" "Me, you, Blink, Dutchy, Dr. Allen, Natalie, Jeans, Band Geek, and of course, Davey-boi here." "OK. See you in what, half an hour?" "Sounds good. I gotta loud everybody up, and that usually takes about 20 minutes anyway." "Yeah. I gotta go to Pierce's room, and then to my locker, then I'll head out to my car. "Aight. See ya there." She ambled off, leaving me staring at Liz. "Did you just say 'Aight'?" "Yeppers. Let's go round up them runaway cows!" We found Natalie and Jeans making out in front of Natalie's locker. Dr. Allen and Dutchy were in the band room, rehearsing a very complicated-sounding piece of music for a trumpet, a flugelhorn, and a drum, and then we found Blink sitting in Liz's car, riding shotgun. Spitfire loaded everyone in, turned on the car, then popped in a CD. Dutchy recognized it, because his eyes lit up, and he started singing along. I recognized it, too. It was Switchfoot's new CD, The Beautiful Letdown. "OK, boys and girls! Restrain anything you don't wanna lose and hold on tight!" "Oh, boy" I heard someone mutter. And we SHOT out of that parking lot doing, as Blink had said, around 80. "We were meant to live for so much more! Have we lost ourselves? Somewhere we live inside, somewhere we live inside!" Dutchy and Spitfire sang together. They didn't sound half bad. And we raced toward McDonalds amid the loud chorus of 'Meant to Live'. 


	4. McDonalds and Abercrombie

Disclaimer: Own nothing. Period. Look for the casting call at the end. I need some flamboyant people to be in the choir and in drama club. If you're interested, review and leave your info. Now, on with the show!

_"We were meant to live for so much more!_

_Have we lost ourselves?_

_Somewhere we live inside, somewhere we live INSIDE!"_

Blink 

OK, breathe. Breathe! Dave is sitting right behind me, and he smells SOOOO sexy! Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce, I think. Mmm. He smells absolutely DIVINE! As we headed toward McDonald's (Spitfire cruising along at about 75, Switchfoot blaring all the way), he was totally silent the whole way. When we got there, I shoved Spitfire out of the way to stand next to him in line, and then jostled people out of the way to stand next to him in line. Now he smelled like Fierce and French fries. I looked around at my friends and sighed in exasperation. Spitfire and Dutchy were deep in discussion about some musical thing that I totally did NOT understand, Crazer and Band Geek were chatting and making French fries fly around, dripping with ketchup and making a mess, and Dr. Allen, Dave, and I were talking about Natalie and Jean's recent rash of PDA's.

     "I don't get it!" Dr. Allen said, sounding puzzled. "They never used to do that before." "I know!", I chipped in intelligently. "Kinda weird, ain't it?" "Yeah. Go figure." Dave was still being really quiet. He seemed to be in really deep thought. "Whatsamattau?" I asked him half -jokingly. "Nothing", he mumbled, not looking at me. "OK" I replied. "But if you ever wanna talk, holler at me." "OK. I really think-and no offense here, Blink- I need to talk to a woman." "Suit yourself. Who ya thinkin'? Spitfire? Natalie?" "Probably Spitfire. I still know her better than I know any of you." "Righty-O." (A/N: Yeah, Blink just said 'Righty-O'. So sue me.) "SPITFIRE!" Dave yelled over all the noise. "WHAT?" she yelled back. "I NEED TO TALK TO YOU! PREFERABLY NOW!" "OK!" They headed over to a different booth, and even though I knew Spitfire wouldn't go after him, I couldn't help but feel a little twinge of jealousy. OK, whatever. I wanted to claw her eyes out. To sort of distract myself, I stuffed two McNuggets and about 12 French fries in my mouth. Calorie binges always make me feel better. I looked over at them one more time, and reassured myself I had absolutely nothing to worry about. At least, I didn't think so.

DAVE

    I have a knot in my stomach. I seriously thought I was gonna throw up my Extra Value Meal all over Spitfire's shoes. But I didn't. "What's up?" she asked, looking concerned. I didn't beat around the bush, I just jumped right in. "Have you ever liked somebody who didn't like you back, or you thought it would never work out?" She didn't answer right away. But when she did, it was sort of cryptic.

    "I have never been good at expressing my feelings. If I was, Jack and I would've broken up by now, and I'd be with the guy I really love." She smiled. "So, to answer your question, yes, Davey-boi, that is a perfectly accurate description of my life right now." Whoa. She knew what I was going through. Well, maybe not all of it. But close enough. I looked up at her again, and noticed two diamond-like tears slipping down her cheeks. "I don't like to cry" she said, in a slightly quavering voice. "But when I do, it's usually for a good reason: I want out of my relationship with Jack." "Why?" I asked, curiosity overruling politeness. "He's getting too serious. He keeps talking about 'our life down the road, we can move to Santa Fe, and raise our kids there'. I'm only 16, goddamit! I just want to get through high school first!" She sighed. "I'm sorry you had to listen to my little rant." I stood up and gave her a hug. I couldn't tell her the conclusion I'd come to. Not yet. She probably couldn't handle it. I just held her and let her cry. "Was there something else youse wanted to say?" she asked, sniffling. "No, no. Not right now, anyways." "OK, then, why don't we go back?" "OK." So we headed back to our original tables. A couple of people asked Spitfire what was wrong, but all she would say was that I'd stepped on her toes. "Uh-huh", said Natalie and Band Geek together. Dutchy rolled his eyes. "What's wrong, Fireball?" he asked. She just shook her head. But when Natalie persisted, she wiped away a tear and gave her a small smile. "Can youse guys keep a secret?" They all nodded, including me, even though I knew what was coming. And she proceeded to tell them about how she wanted out of her relationship with perfect boy. "Why? Youse guys seemed so happy together!" Natalie said, sounding concerned. "I know, I know! It's just…the spark that was there before…it's gone. I don't feel it anymore." "What dontcha feel anymore, Fireball?" asked a new voice. I looked over at the newcomer. It was Spot, standing there, looking concerned. "Hey, Spotty. The spark. In my so-called 'relationship'. I don't feel it anymore. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as we're officially exes, you, or anyone else, is welcome to him." Spot ran his tongue over his lips. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Mmm. Hey, Fireball, can youse end it quickly? Your boy-toy is one hunk of beefcake I want for myself. Everyone laughed. Except me, for obvious reasons.

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**Saturday:** My true-blue faithful reviewer. Thanx for the review! Now update, before my army of stuffed animals come to attack you! BWAHAHAHA!

**Erin Go Braugh:** Your 'Skating' story was really good. Hope you like this chapter. Thanx!

**Elvenrarehunter:** Thanx for reading it, even if slash isn't your thing. I'm just glad to get the reviews, LOL!

**Casting Call:**

I need some loud, energetic, flamboyant people to play members of the choir and the drama club. Please leave a review w/ your info if you're interested! Thanx!

Name and nickname, if you've got one:

Appearance:

Personality:

Hobbies:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Other:

Thanx in advance! 


	5. Ballas and Cellies

SPITFIRE

Why did I tell them all that? Now they're gonna act weird around Jack. And me, too. But, what's done is done. Yeesh. We finished our food, and then piled into my van. I dropped everyone off, getting lost twice trying to find Dave's house. Finally, it was just Blink and I left in the car. "Hey 3rd Eye Blind", I teased. Wanna go get some ice cream?" "Sure. Mmmm, your car smells good. Like Dave's cologne." We laughed, and then I started singing Usher's "U Got It Bad". He leaned over and punched me. "Shut it! I can't help it that he's a Greek god!" "How come you never told me you were gay, Blink?" I asked, on a more serious note. He shrugged. "I didn't think it mattered. I also thought it was rather obvious. You know, how I could tell what perfume you're wearing 8 times out of 10?" Oh yeah. I thought about it for a minute. When we were freshmen, some guys had come out of the locker room yelling, "You're a queer, Parker! You're a sick freak!" That had stung, because Blink was my best friend, and I thought the accusation was unfounded. When I asked him about it, he said that those guys would say anything for attention. They were jocks, it was true. So I wrote it off as a random incident. But now…"Yeah, Fireball, it's true. I'm gay", he said, resignedly. There was a glint in his eyes, as though daring me to challenge him. Instead, I reached over and gave him a hug. "No more secrets, Blinky-boi, savvy?" (He he, POTC) "OK. I felt kinda weird not telling you, but I was scared, ya know?" "'S OK. Just promise me one thing." "What?" "Live by this motto: Veritas et veritas." "Huh?!" "It's Latin. It means truth for truth. You tell me the truth, and I'll do the same. We've been friends since 3rd grade. We're juniors now. No more secrets, savvy?" (He, he, more POTC) "Yeah, OK. Except, like, my sex life. I can keep that private, right?" "¡Claro que si!" "Huh?! You know Spanish ain't my thing!" "It means 'Of course'. Comprende?" He glared at me. "Oops. I mean, 'Got it?' " Yeppers." We reached Baskin Robbins, got out, and walked inside. I ordered a caramel praline crunch cone, and he got fudge ripple. That's ALL he's gotten since 6th grade. We walked out, then crossed the street to the small park on the other side. "So…what happened that day in the locker room?" "For real?" "For real." He sighed in resignation.  "It was right after P.E., right? And we had to go back into the locker rooms to shower and change. These jocks were talking about the girls they fucked over the weekend, and, naturally(for them, maybe), this led to a comparison of their various lengths.(A/N: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a perv. But I'm a funny perv.) So then, they asked me, how come I never show mine off. I shrugged and said, 'I've never really been into exhibitionism'. But there was this big guy creeping up behind me, he whipped off my towel, and, a split second later, I'd whipped around, grabbed his dick, and twisted as hard as I could. And you know the rest", he finished, rather lamely. I reached over and gave him a hug. "It's not your fault, Blink", I said, my heart going out to him. "Those guys are jerks. I hope you twisted his dick into oblivion!" "I sure as hell tried, Fireball. He was limping out of there, it was great!" And we collapsed into fits of laughter. "But now, I've been branded the queer, the fag, the homo, and the pretty much let insults-and physical harm-fire at will." I'd covered my ears after the f-word. He didn't deserve to be treated this way. NO ONE  could treat my best friend like he wasn't human.

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears 

_I held your hand through all of these years_

_But you still have_

_All of me._

Evanescence "My Immortal"

BLINK

Actually telling someone, especially my best friend, lifted a weight off of my chest. But now, I just wanted to be alone. So I asked Spitfire to please take me home. We finished our cones, then got back into her car, which, interestingly, she calls "The Screaming Metal Beat Box Trap of Death". But I love it anyway. "Call me with the Spanish homework, OK, Blinky-boi? I forgot what it was!" She laughed. "OK." She gave me a hug, and before getting into her car, turned, and asked me, "Do you think you could love him Blink?" I nodded immediately. "OK, then. We'll start Operation: Get Blink A Date tomorrow then, shall we?" We did this weird handshake thing we made up in 5th grade, and she drove off. I watched her go, then turned and walked into my house. I live with my mom, and she works two or three jobs at a time, so she's not home much. I could have a kegger, a dance contest, and even an(dare I say it?) orgy! Ha ha ha. Like that'd ever happen. And she wouldn't notice 'cause she gets home at 5 A.M. More to the point, she pretty much lets me do whatever I want, 'cause she trusts me. There was a note on the fridge door. "Trey. I'm at work. Dinner's in the freezer. Do your homework. I'll be home in the morning. Love, Mom." Yesterday the note was minus "Love". She must've had 30 more seconds today than yesterday. I found my dinner(It turned out to be Hungryman. Chicken strips and cheese fries. Oh, joy. Oh, rapture.), heated it up. Then sat in front of the T.V. watching "The Last Samurai" on DVD.(A/N: "Tell me how he died." "I will tell you how he lived." Sorry. Random quote moment. It's right at the end of Last Samurai, and…OK, I'll shut up now.) I like that movie. Not to mention Tom Cruise is HOTT! Oh my God. I sounded SO gay just then, didn't I? Yeah, I did/ I finished my dinner, threw the box away, then remembered I had to call Spitfire with the Spanish homework. I decided to IM her instead. She's almost ALWAYS online, even at 1 in the morning. So I logged on, and sent her an IM.

**Thirdeyeblind:** I got the homework

**Colorguard4life:** Oh, good! I'm so scatterbrained this week! What is it?

**Thirdeyeblind:** p. 126, #'s 1-5, all the little sub-problems under the big numbers

**Colorguard4life:** grumbles Some days I really HATE Spanish

**Thirdeyeblind:** me too. Do you know if Dave has an AIM name?

**Colorguard4life:** "L" is for the way you look at me

**Thirdeyeblind:** shut up!

**Colorguard4life:** "O" is for the only one I see

**Colorguard4life:** "V" is very, very, extraordinary

**Colorguard4life:** "E" is even more than anyone that you adore can love…

**Colorguard4life:** Ok, I'm done now. Now, I don't know. But I DO have his phone # LOL

**Thirdeyeblind:** Well? Give it to me, dammit!

**Colorguard4life: **OK,OK! It's 555-1988. you gonna call him?

**Thirdeyeblind:** I dunno. I'll put it in my cell, at any rate.

**Colorguard4life:** you and your cell phone! Remember, it only holds 99 numbers, LOL!

**Thirdeyeblind:** My cellie is my lifeline!

**Colorguard4life:** Did you just say 'cellie'?

**Thirdeyeblind:** yeah, why?

**Colorguard4life: **'Cause you have blond hair and green eyes and you're talking like a black guy

**Thirdeyeblind:** so what, baby girl? I'm a balla from WAY back

**Colorguard4life:**groans tell me you didn't just call me 'baby girl'. Oh, god. You are SO gay. And I mean that in the best possible way.

**Thirdeyeblind:** no offense taken

**Colorguard4life:** and none was meant. So it's all good.

**Colorguard4life: **when's your birthday again?

**Thirdeyeblind:** October 14th. Why?

**Colorguard4life:** I KNEW it was in October! I just didn't know what day.

**Colorguard4life:** I'm writing down everyone's birthday. I couldn't remember when yours was. I'm sorry!

**Thirdeyeblind:** It's OK. When's yours? I kinda forgot too, so we're even.

**Colorguard4life:** September 8th. It's in a couple of weeks, actually. WOO-HOO! I'm gonna be 17, doo dah, doo dah! I'm gonna be 17, all the doo dah day! HEY!

**Thirdeyeblind:** Liz, you sing too much

**Colorguard4life:** Even in cyberspace?

**Thirdeyeblind:** ESPECIALLY in cyberspace

**Colorguard4life:** ;-p

**Colorguard4life:** g2g, get started on my freakin' MOUNTAIN of homework! TTYL

**Thirdeyeblind:** see ya

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**Saturday:** My true and faithful reviewer to the end. You are definitely going in, so is everybody else! Dave is gonna end up being in love with…not telling! Must read and find out!

**Wisecracker88:** Thanx for that Spanish lesson. I constantly correct mistakes too, especially in pronunciation, so it's all good. You sound like me, make fun of my heritage, and you're goin' DOWN!

**Coin:** Blink has a lot of unique talents, this is just one of many. That's actually the cologne my band teacher wears, my friend told me that, she happens to think he's gorgeous. I really don't see it.

**Va-finest-harley:** Minx will be goin' in, can you email me the info, I might've already sent you an e-mail, I dunno. Check, 'k?

**Matchin' Laces:** How exactly did you get the nickname 'Alaska'? Just curious. Thanx for the review, I really appreciate that. Tell your friends!

**Erin Go Braugh:** I am a band nerd, all my friends are band nerds, the band room is our meeting place, but I don't think any of us have ever had a band yard sale. Interesting concept. Must try it sometime. I'm gonna make you one of the tough ones in drama club, I guess. I dunno. There's a place for EVERYONE in my story!


	6. The Plot Twists

Dave 

I got home last, and waved goodbye as Liz and Blink drove away. I walked inside, to the sound of absolute silence. I moaned. I had to talk to SOMEONE, or I was gonna go CRAZY! So I called Spot. His mom put me through, then I heard, "Whazzup, Davey-boi?!"

"Nothing. I was just wondering if I could talk to you."

"Sure."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. Not just since moving to Brooklyn, but back in Chicago, too."

"What is it?", he asked, sounding rather serious, which was kinda weird.

"I think…I think…I think I'm gay. I mean, I don't stare at girls' boobs anymore, or think of them only as sex objects. Am I crazy, Spot?"

There was a pause. Then:

"YES! I HAVE FOUND A MEMBER TO JOIN OUR BRETHEREN!"

I hold my ear away from the phone during that. But I was happy he hadn't labeled me a queer, or just hung up on me, or anything like that. Then it hit me: Spot was gay, too. I felt relief wash over me.

"Hey, Davey-boi, youse wanna do something tonight?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Snitch, Skitt, and I go to this group called Eternal Rainbow. If we bring a guest this month, we get a pizza party! Even if we don't bring a guest, we still get the pizza. It's just to encourage new members. You in?"

"Sure. What exactly is it?"

It's a group for gay, lesbian, and bi teens, and teens who are questioning their sexuality."

"Sounds like just what I need."

"So…we'll pick you up at 7?"

"OK. See ya then. And Spot?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for understanding."

"I can't exactly pass judgment on youse, especially when I've got a boyfriend." I laughed.

"See you at seven, then."

"See ya."

I hung up and glanced at the clock. 5:30. I had absolutely nothing else to do, so I plopped down in front of the T.V., and watched a Lilo and Stitch: The Series marathon and munched on nacho cheese Doritos until 7, when my doorbell rang. And rang and rang. Spot was standing there, having a LITTLE too much fun with my doorbell. "Spot. SPOT! I'm here. Can we go now?" Spot grinned.

"Sure. Let's get our gay asses in gear!"

OK then.

I followed Spot out to a gorgeous '69 Mustang, cobalt blue. Drool. The car of my DREAMS! Snitch was behind the wheel, which the only thing blocking my perfect vision of ME behind the wheel. I climbed in, Snitch gunned the engine, and off we went. "_With the lights off, it's less dangerous! Here we are now, entertain us! I feel stupid, and contagious! Here we are now, entertain us! YEAH!"_ Snitch must love Nirvana. Especially with the bass all the way up.

I think I'm losing my hearing.

BLINK

"SHIT! MEETING'S TONIGHT!" Damn, damn, damn! I go to these meetings, twice a month, Eternal Rainbow. It's complicated, but basically, it's a group where gay teens can meet and just be themselves. Anyways, I totally forgot about tonight's, on account of all the stuff that happened today. So, I'm running around the house, freakin' out, and looking for my other shoe, which I finally located(under my cat, of all places!), put it on, and SHOT out the door. I have a car, but letting other people drive me everywhere is much more convenient. Also, it saves me the money on gas. Christ! It's $2.00/gallon! What am I, made of money? Yeesh. Three-fourths of a tank left! WOO-HOO! Maybe that's because I haven't driven the damn car in a month or so. Yeah, I'm a moocher. BUT, anyways, I think I was doing 70 to try to get to the meeting on time. Which was bad, since the faster you go, the more gas you burn. When I was stopped in traffic, I looked in my rearview mirror, and I thought I saw Snitch's blue '69 Mustang. I did a double-take. It WAS Snitch's 'Stang! They must be on their was to the meeting but…was that Dave in the back seat? HALLELUJAH! It was! Everybody do the happy dance. Which I actually started to do. I did a happy dance in traffic. My cell phone rang. 1812 Overture. Cool song.

"Blink? What was that dance you were doing?"              

"Oh, nothing. Just my happy dance."

"Your happy dance? What the hell for?"

"Just happiness in general. You guys headed to the meeting?"

"Yeppers. You?"

"Uh-huh. We brought Dave along."

"Oh, really?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yep. Spot asked him along."

"Coolness. This should be interesting."

"He's in the 'questioning' phase!" yelled Spot, from what I guessed was the back seat.

"Really? Interesting."

"Blink, don't you go getting any ideas."

"Too late. MWAHAHAHAHA!"

"Ooook. Blink, you're scaring me."

"And I do it so well. My specialty, wouldn't you say?"

"If you say so. Look, I gotta go. I HATE driving and talking at the same time. See you in, like, 10 minutes."

"See ya."

I punched the OFF button, floored the gas, and took off toward Tibby's, the restaurant where we were having our pizza party. I was reflecting along the way. So…if Dave was gay…that meant I could go after him. WOO-HOO! Do the happy dance again.

ALL FEAR THE ALMIGHTY HAPPY DANCE!!!

Ahem.

Anyway, I got there(without any extraneous weirdness, I promise!), got out, and walked in. HA HA! I BEAT THEM HERE! I AM JEFF GOR- Oh, wait. They're already here.

Damn.

"Alright, people! Let's get some pizza and get down to it!" came the voice of Medda, the lady who runs the meetings. Medda Larkson, singer-turned-gay-rights-activist. She's got bright red hair, bright blue eyes, and a smile that lights up the whole room. She's not totally gay herself, she's more bi. And she's extremely tolerant. "Today we're going to be talking about what to do when we come into contact with non-gays."

"Yeah, we soak 'em!" came Spot's voice from the corner.

So that's where he was.

But who was the guy next to him? Ooh, maybe I'll get to meet his boyfriend!

OK, I'm exhausted, but I'll do shout-outs anyway:

Coin: I'll have to put another Greek god-esque Newsie in somewhere, just for you.

Saturday: My truest reviewer. Glad you caught the little gag with givin' Blink your birthday. Ha ha! Hope you liked this one!

Minx Hijinks: Thanx for the review! You sound like a mixture of me and my best friend, which is actually kind of cool. Except she weighs under 110 lbs. No FAIR!

Matchin' Laces: Oh, I get it now. Cool! Wish I had a cool nickname!

Erin Go Braugh: Do you get it now?! I finally told you what Dave was gonna say! Are you happy now?! LOL, j/k! But I had to keep you in suspense for awhile 'till I revealed it!

Elvenrarehunter: Sorry I forgot you! I didn't mean to! But I updated REALLY late at night last night, and I was about to fall asleep at my keyboard, so here you go! I'm gonna put you in doing something totally bizarre. I just gotta figure out what.

Ccatt: Thanx for the definition of 'orgy'. I didn't know that until I read your review. Yeah, I got just the place for you laughs maniacally

Turpentine chaser: Flux. Never heard that one before. But it must suit you somehow, so we'll see where you end up! LOL!

Cassies-Grandma: When I saw your name, I thought of my friend Cassie form my theatre class, so maybe I'll use a little of her to create her, if that's OK with you. If not, we'll just keep ya the way ya are.

BoogityWhup14: Ummm… not sure what to say for you. I fixed the formatting this time, so it should be easier on your tiny brain! Hope you like!

Irish Flame: Your profile sounds like you're a really sweet girl, so you get to be in choir, as the loudest 2nd soprano we got. LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

My reviewers are GODS!! If I could, I'd give you each a Newsie, find a minister, and we'd have a slap-bang ceremony, and we'd all get married! That would be SOOOOOOOOOO cool!


	7. And Then Thickens

Have you ever noticed how in the movie Blink and Dave are always very close or right next to each other? I mean, for crying out loud! It's slash just WAITING to happen! OK, yeah, I'm done now. BLINK 

    Well. That could not POSSIBLY have gone ANY worse if we tried. Highlight of the evening: Met Spot's boyfriend. Real tough guy named Itey. They are SO perfect for each other. Low point of the evening: Pretty much everything else. Dave flipped out and started shrieking, "I'm not gay! I'm not gay! Why the FUCK am I here?!"

   I guess I should've seen it coming. He didn't look comfortable in his own skin, and his hands were shaking. So Spot gave him a shot of a downer he takes sometimes, and we hauled him out to Snitch's 'Stang. I called Spitfire and filled her in. She sometimes (OK, twice) does damage control, since she can restrain someone twice her size, and her mom's a P.A., so she has all these sample drugs we could use to calm Dave down.

   "So…he flipped out, started yelling, and you gave him a downer? Alright. Am I doing damage control, or is it more like, counseling?" she asked, after I filled her in.

"More like counseling" I replied.

"OK. My place, 20 minutes?"

"We'll be there." I looked over at Itey, who had trailed out after Spot.

"He's not usually like this. I should go apologize to Medda."

"Medda says not to worry about it, she's seen this kind of behavior before. She says she hopes he'll be back in two weeks."

"We'll try."

"Whatever" grumbled Spot. "If he does that again, I'll soak him! I can't believe he embarrassed me like that!"  
"Spot!" I said, in mock exasperation. "You sound so GAY!"

    Spot swept off his hat and started bowing, going, "Thank you, thank you ladies and germs, I'll be here all week! Try the veal!"(Spot's favorite movie is Shrek.) Then he grabbed Itey and they started making out. Now, I thought Natalie and Jeans were bad. But they were all OVER each other. Sex with clothes on. Strangely fascinating. But also slightly frightening. "Spot. SPOT!" I finally ended up kicking him in the ass, and he looked up and glowered at me.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Youse two wanna go with us to Spit's house, or what?"

"Only if Itey can come, too."

"Fine. You, Itey, Snitch, and Skitts can go in the 'Stang, and…" I realized that that was all the room in the 'Stang. Hee hee hee. I planned all of that. Clever me. Ha ha.

"I guess Dave's goin' with me."

Snitch raised his eyebrows at me, but that was the only reaction anyone gave.

   "Alrighty then!" said Spot, totally oblivious to the silent exchange between 

Snitch and me. Sometimes I love the fact that Spot is extremely thick. I also love the fact that Snitch is very observant when it comes to all my silent little gestures. So I dragged Dave into my Taurus(with Skitt's help, he's strong for being so wiry!), buckled him in(THAT was fun, let me tell you!), and headed off toward Liz's house. I looked over at him every time we were stopped in traffic, he was beautiful even when he was half conscious. Now, if only he were my boyfriend, that would be HEAVEN on Earth! So, we got to Liz's house, Skitts helped me unload Dave, and we dragged him inside.

"Whoa. Dude, he is OUT! What the hell'd you GIVE him?!"

"Some really potent form of-of-I can't remember what it's called, but I gave him two normal doses."

"HOLY SHIT!" she yelled, and she morphed into P.A. mode. "Rapid heart rate, shallow breathing"-She opened his eyes-"Pupils fixed and dilated. I'm calling 911. You IDIOTS!" And she stomped over to the phone, cursing us in Spanish. I followed her into the kitchen.

"Spits…is he gonna be OK?" I asked, really worried.

She looked at me with big worried eyes. " I sure as hell hope so. Blink, go be with him. Right now he needs you more than I do." As I walked away, I heard her telling the paramedics her address. I walked in, sat down, and held his hand until the paramedics got there. They asked me if I wanted to ride in the ambulance with them. I wasn't leaving him for a second, so I climbed in without saying a word. Liz was right behind me.

"Gotta tell the medics what happened, ya know?" she said in response to the eyebrow I raised at her.

"Uh-huh."

She gave me her 'annoyed' look, and said, fighting back a grin, "OK, I'm actually going for two reasons, I'm really worried about him, but, also, my friends are volunteering tonight. Maybe we'll see them."

**SPITFIRE**

"¡Idiotas, perras, y todos mas ESTUPIDAS! I cannot BELIEVE they gave him that downer! I'm gonna let Izzy talk now. I'm gonna KILL them, I can't BELIEVE they did that!" walks away grumbling

**SATURDAY**

"Ain't it a fine life, carryin' the banner through it all!" I sang.

"Said it's a fine life, carryin' the banner through it all!" sang Coin in harmony. Yeah, we're dorks. But we love the Newsies in all of our dorkiness, so it's OK.

"Izzy…Izzy, watch where you're goin, girl!" came Coin's voice from somewhere near my elbow. I'm just kidding. Coin isn't that short, but she is 5'0", and pretty too. Hair like ebony, skin like ivory. Think Snow White, midget-sized. I guess I shouldn't talk, I'm only 5'2", with brown hair and hazel eyes. I know, kinda average, but I play ice hockey, that's not very average, now, is it?

"Izzy, you're a spaz!" laughed Coin.

"I'm in a Newsie induced spazzing fit" I said. "So it's excused."

"Whatever."

We got to the volunteer office, where we greeted Amie, the Teen Volunteer Coordinator.

"You guys, where's Liz? Didn't she come with you?"

"She said on the phone that one of her friends OD'd on a downer and she's staying with him."

"Oh. OK. She didn't call, though…" She broke off as her phone rang, and Coin laughed.

"That's probably her now."

"Probably. Hello, Volunteer Services, how can I help you?" She listened for a minute.

"OK, Liz. Thanks for calling. Izzy and Anna told me about it, but thanks for calling. I hope your friend will be alright."

Amie hung up and looked at us. "Her friend Dave OD'd on a depressant, apparently. Said he flipped out, and her friend Spot gave him twice the recommended dose." Coin and I looked at each other.

"Spot did WHAT?!" Coin looked like she was gonna kill someone.

"Did she say what room he was in?" she asked.

"I think…" Amie paused in thought. "526. You can see him during meal trays. No sneaking off."

_We will anyway_, I thought.

We were the two busiest volunteers on our shift that day. I think Amie wanted to keep us from sneaking off to visit Dave, which she succeeded in doing. Oh, joy. I work for a slave driver. Anyways, at 6:20, we headed up to 5th floor, found his tray, and headed to his room. We knocked, walked inside, and found Spitfire, Blink, Spot, Itey, Dutchy, and Jack. The two guys present in Liz's life? The ironic tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Liz walked up to us and wrapped each of us in a one-armed hug. Her hands were shaking. She whispered in my ear, "Find a way to get Jack outta here. Please, Izzy?"

"I'll try" I whispered back.

Coin must've caught most of that, because she stood up and said, "Who wants to help me pass out these trays? How 'bout you, Jackie-boi?"

And Jack, being the half-assed gentleman that he is, accepted.

Took it hook, line, and sinker.

"Thanks, Wizard of Iz" Liz whispered.

"No problem. How's Dave doing?"

"Unconscious, but stable. Doctor says he should wake up soon. "

Oh, yeah. Must murder Spot now.(Just kidding. I'd never kill Spot. But I WAS gonna chew him out pretty good.)

"CONLON! I can't BELIEVE you DID that! You're a first-class IDIOT!" I yelled, out of anger, frustration, worry, and tension. Spot just looked at me, his arm draped around Itey's shoulders.

"I know I deserve that, Saturday, but don't get too mad. I was only trying to help."

Liz sighed. "I know, Spot. But that medication was meant for you and you alone. You're not supposed to give it to anyone else, let alone twice the recommended dose." She sank into a chair. Then she looked over at Dave, looking twice her age.

"I just hope he's gonna be OK."

_These lines of light mean_

_We're never alone, never alone_

Counting Crows, "Accidentally in Love"(Shrek 2 ROX MY SOX!)

Let the record show it is now 11:45, CST. I'm extremely tired, but also very wired, 'cause I drank a lot of those cool new 8 oz. Diet Pepsi cans. Cute, and good for a quick caffeine jolt, which I is just what I needed throughout the night. Off to sleep, as soon as I do shout-outs.

WOO-HOO!! I'm FINISHED!!! Took a lot of caffinated beverages, chewing gum, and bread-and-butter(comfort food, don't ask), but it was worth it.

(in a Sapphy mindset) Any who, here are all the shout-outs from the reviewers I can actually remember:

**SATURDAY:** If I ever meet you, I'll seriously faint. I would LOVE to meet ALL of my reviewers someday. I love you ALL! UPDATE THE ISLAND! Or I'll sic my bitch Dutchy on you.

Dutchy: Since when am I your bitch?!

ME: Since we reviewed that one story and you said you loved me.

Dutchy: Oh, yeah, right. gives her a kiss

ME: swoons Dutchy KISSED me! Aw, I LOVE YOU, DUTCHY!!

Dutchy: runs away in terror. again

(Ok, that kinda got outta control. Sorry.)

**Minx-Hijinks: **You rock 'n' roll, girl! If I wasn't so tired, I'd try to write more for ya, but I can't think of a whole hell of a lot, since my brain tends to shut down as it gets closer to midnight.

**Turpentine chaser:** thanx for the review, if I wasn't so damn tired, I'd remember what your review said. Hey, I have a small gaggle of reviewers now. Cool!

**Cassie's grandma: **my reviewers are too cool! I LOVE YOU ALL! I think that's the second or third time I've typed that, but I feel like shit, and I'm tired, so I don't care

**Elvenrarehunter:** I remembered you, even though I'm just about dead! Yeah, me! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! I don't get why your account buddy hates the Newsies, either. There's so much to love about 'em!

**NEWSIES:** LIKE WHAT?!

**ME:** Youse all're hot, you sing, you dance, and two words: Pelvic Thrust!

**Jack:** I KNEW doing this was a smart move!

**ME:** Well, DUH! I could've TOLD you that!

**Dutchy:** Yeah, she's funny, smart, pretty, creative, dedicated-why else would she be at a computer typing 'till midnight?-need I go on? She sticks up for people…

**NEWSIES:** SHUT UP, DUTCHY! YOUSE'RE MAKIN' US SICK!

**Dutchy:** OK, sorry! Geez, TOUCHY MUCH??!!

(can you tell I enjoyed writing that? Ha ha ha! Possibly my best dialogue yet!)

To all of my reviewers I forgot, all I can say is: I'm sorry! Please keep the rotten muffins and cookies away! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! ducks as rotten muffins and cookies are pelted at her by neglected reviewers I would've put you in, but my 'rents put a password on the Internet, so I can't go on my page to see who reviewed. The ones who got a shout-out are the VERY lucky ones, I'm sorry to all y'all I forgot! BYE NOW! I'm gonna go sleep now.

(Didja know I listened to 'Accidentally in Love' TEN TIMES while typing and finishing this? My computer says so. I am SO lame. I'm REALLY gonna go sleep now. BYE!!!)


	8. Her Royal Sapphiness Meets Angelina Joli...

I'm sure ff.net will cut off the chapter title so I'll tell you it now: "Her Royal Sapphiness Meets Angelina Jolie's Lips". Yeah, that was the best I could come up with. Toodles! Skips off with Dutchy, singing 'This I Swear' by Nick Lachey COIN 

   "Look at me, I'm the King of New Yooooooork!" I sang, as I danced down the hallways, back toward Dave's room. At this point, I suppose I should mention that I am a bona fide drama freak. Eh, so sue me. But I also like to kick butt, so it's all good, y'know? As I walked toward his room, I spotted two heads of hair that looked very familiar: Race's black one, and Mush's dark brown. Saturday's and my boyfriends, respectively.

"Mush!" I yelled, as loudly as I could inside the hospital.

"Quarter! What's up?" Quarter is his nickname for me. I think it's cute.

"Why are youse two here?" I asked.

"Where's Izzy?!" asked Race. He kinda has a one-track mind. And Izzy is that track. Kind of sickly-cute, but he's extremely devoted. Izzy poked her head out of the room and said, with a grin on her face, "I thought I heard my Italian asshole of a boyfriend." I swear. But Mush sometimes does that, too, so I guess we're even.

  I gave Mush a kiss and asked, "Who called you two?"

"Liz. She figured you'd want us around."

"She's not wrong."

We walked in and saw that Spot and Itey had left.

"Where'd Conlon go?"

"They said that they were hungry. They just didn't say what for."

   Everyone except Liz laughed. She glanced over at Dave for what I assumed was the hundredth time, and said, "I need some real food. Do they have hamburgers here? Or cheeseburgers? And fries? Yummy."

"You work here, Spits. You tell us" Dutchy said.

"I don't memorize the grill menu!" came the response.

"Well" said Izzy, in between Race's lips on her neck, "Why don't we go get somethin' ta eat? Lizzy, you look like death warmed over."

"Thanks a lot!" came the very dry response. But she laughed.

   I sighed in contentment. I love my friends.

SAPPHY 

"I love mangos, and I love bananas!" I sang, dancing around my room on a caffeine high. Yes, never give me sugar or caffeine, except in very large amounts.

"Ain't it a fine life, staring at my Newsies poster wall!" I kill myself. "Ain't it a fine life, loving all the Newsies, one and all!" I couldn't think of any more lyrics, so I just sort of stopped. Yes, I'm bizarre. But then again, who isn't? That's what makes me, well, me! Ooh, brainstorm!

"Every mornin' wake up, give 'em kisses! They do anything I want, 'cause they're my bitches! What a fine life, loving all the Newsies, one and all!"

My phone rang. "Hello, Her Royal Sapphiness speaking."

"Hey, Sapph" came the voice of my friend Liz on the other end of the line. "You think you can do me a small favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Swing by my house, get my backpack, and bring it to St. Joe's, so I can get started on my homework."

"Why're you at St. Joe's?! Are youse in trouble?!"

"Calm down, Sapph. I'm fine. My friend has an accident, so he's in here."

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't in traction, or something, as a result of one of her stupid stunts.

"Sure. What room?"

"526. East Tower, the new addition. Thanks, Sapph. You wanna stay for dinner, or anything? We're dining in excellence at the hospital grill."

I laughed with her. "Sure. You payin'?"

"What am I, made of money?!"

I laughed again. "Guessing that's a 'no', am I correct?"

"Righty-O."

"I'll be there in about 20 minutes, possibly 30."

"That's going twice the speed limit, right?" she asked wryly.

"You know it! Bye."

"Bye."

I kissed my Newsies poster, and headed out the door. I am SAPPHY! Bow before my awesome RANDOMNESS!! Sometimes I even scare myself. LAAAAA! Anyways, I really like Liz's house, it looks like she designed it. It's got all different angles, a wrap-around deck, an all-glass kitchen, and balconies. No fair! So, I slid into my car, adjusted the mirror my mother ALWAYS changes when she drives my car (AARGH!!), and took off toward Brooklyn Heights. Along the way, my Newsies soundtrack, "Carryin' The Banner" stuck on repeat, serenaded me most enjoyably. Yes, that was the tune I parodied a moment ago, but they do it SOOOO much better. I got to Liz's house, found her stuff, and zipped over to St. Joe's. Doing, as I'd said, twice the speed limit. I found the gang clustered around a table in Dave's room, waiting, it seemed, for me.

"Ah, Her Royal Sapphiness!" Skitts quipped. God, he's sexy! If he wasn't gay, well…let's just say he wouldn't look twice at anyone else, guy or girl. Yeah, I have kind of a possessive complex. SO WHAT?!

"Has he woke up yet?" I asked, 'cause, to be honest, he didn't look so good.

"Not yet. Are we gonna go eat, or what?" asked Snitch, rather impatiently.

Everybody laughed. "Yeah, we're goin'!" Liz chuckled.

Everyone got up except Blink. "I wanna stay here in case he wakes up" he said, by way of explanation. He gave Liz a fiver, and told her to get him some chips, a Pepsi, and a 'cheeseboiga with extra pickles'. And we all trooped out.

BLINK 

"Good morning, beautiful. How was your night? Mine was wonderful with you by my side, and when I open my eyes, and see your sweet face, it's a good morning beautiful day." Yeah, it's like somethin' out of a movie, I'm sittin' here, strokin' his hair, singing to him, but I can't help it. I want so desperately for him to get well, that it kind of makes me crazy. I was ready to kill Spot, and only seven years of friendship kept me from wringing his skinny neck. Actually, Sapphy sort of got my revenge for me. As they were walking out the door, I heard the sharp 'crack!' as she slapped Spot hard upside the head. He called her some pretty unflattering names, but Race cussed him out in Italian, and since he couldn't understand, he shut up.

    I thought back to the time I first laid eyes on him, six hours ago. God, he'd gotten sexier, if that was possible. Or maybe I was just blinded by a strange mixture of love, worry, affection, and a shot of lust. I kinda got a glimpse of his ass when they admitted him and wrangled him into one of those stupid little hospital gowns. I think I had the equivalent of a male hot flash. I mean, I was turned  on to kingdom come! WOO! Anyways…, I didn't know how to fill the empty space, so I just started talking.

"So, Davey-boi… how 'bout those Dodgers?" There was no response, of course, but it felt good to break the silence.

"Ya know, we've got more in common then you might think. We like the same kinds of music, we like to pig out at McDonalds, hell"-I grinned-"We both got roped into this situation by Liz." I was desperately searching for common ground, but it's hard when your conversations are kinda one-sided. I looked down at him, his lips slightly parted, his sheet pushed down, his gown bunched up around his hips. WOO! 'Nother male hot flash. But, being the good guy that I am, I adjusted his gown, then fixed his sheet. I brushed some hair out his face, and studied him. His complexion was slightly olive; he had smoky eyelashes, long and dark, and lips to rival Angelina Jolie's. I wiped a line of sweat off his temple, then wiped my hand on my jeans. My fingers tingled slightly at the contact, but in a very good way. He stirred a little bit, and I remembered the doctor saying, "His body's got to sweat out some of the toxins. We can't totally flush his system, it might shut down his kidneys."

So Dave's doin' battle within himself, and who knows when he'll wake up? Even in a drug-induced sleep, he's gorgeous, and I've fallen totally in love with this miracle from heaven who likes Guns 'n' Roses, puts up with all our quirks, and whose life I had a  small hand in saving. You gotta take the good with the bad, the high times with the hard times, y'know? And this would definitely qualify as a hard time. But there were lots of high times today, so, in the words of Liz, "It's all good".

   I caught myself looking at his lips again, and wondering if they were as soft as they looked, or if I was just imagining it.

   I couldn't help it. I leaned over and kissed him. I felt him stir, and felt his lips start to kiss back. I pulled back, and looked at him. His eyelids fluttered-and then opened.

God, I am SO mortified.

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**SAPPHY:** There, you got to smack upside the head, and Race stuck up for you by cussin' him out in Italian. Don't worry, Izzy. He still only has eyes for you. Yeah, I'm gonna make you, Her Royal Sapphiness, instrumental in getting those two crazy kids together. God, this is gonna be FUN!

**SATURDAY:** Yeah, sometimes I feel like I really know you. It's kinda weird, that I could nail all those one-liners, and make them sound so much like you. Creepy, huh? But in a good way. Did you like that I made Race your boyfriend? I hope you did. I'm probably gonna get tackled from happiness, but trust me, I'm gettin' used to it. I LOVED the update on 'The Island'. Awesomeness. I can't BELIEVE Spot wants out. Oh, well. Ces't la vie. Ciao!

**COIN:** You lucky dog! You get the guy with the BEST abs and pecs in the lodging house. Oh, yeah. I wrote it that way. DUH! slaps head LOL! Anyways, did you like your POV? Do I need to tweak your personality in any way? Let me know if I do. Hope you like!

**Ccatt:** Thanx for the review, my reviewers EXUDE awesomeness! My brain is running out of ideas, I need a new one. Preferably with all the lines in Newsies programmed into it, so I could quote it at random intervals. That would ROCK!!

**BoogityWhoop14: **Yeah, Spot's a moron. Oh, well. We love 'im anyway, don't wese, Spottie?

**Dutchy:** HEY!!

**ME:** Dutchy, you know I love you.

**Dutchy:** Ok, then.

**Elvenrarehunter: **Yeah, Shrek 2 is AWESOME! You should tie your friend to a chair, and FORCE her to watch Newsies, see what happens. Ciao!

**Erin Go Bragh: **Davey isn't doped up by choice, it's 'cause Spot is a moron. Love ya, thanx for the review!


	9. Sweet Kisses

**Author's Note: **I bet you all thought I'd died, or totally forgotten about this story. Well, I didn't. I remembered, but I needed to get 'Switchblade's Story' and 'Hittin' The Road' off the ground. Anyways, here's Ch.9. See?! I haven't died after all. Hope y'all like it! Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER: **Y'all know the drill. I don't own squat. (Cries in a corner) Wish I owned just ONE newsie, just ONE! Wait…if I did, I'd keep them all to myself, and y'all would hate me…but I still wish I owned them.

**DAVE**

Ow. My head. Really. Fucking. Hurts. That's what happens when you pass out, I guess. Just before my consciousness came back, before I opened my eyes, I felt someone's lips on mine. Really nice, a soft kiss, like you might give a lover, or a sleeping child. Then, I kissed back, and the delicious pressure disappeared. I opened my eyes and looked around. Blink was the only person in the room, and he was sitting in a chair watching T.V. "Hey Blink" I managed, through very dry lips. He looked over at me, hopped up, and strode over to the bed. He looked down at me and smiled. He had a gorgeous

smile…God, what am I saying?! Everything about him was gorgeous, down to his eye patch and his constantly untied shoes.

"Hey, Davey-boi! You're awake! How're you feelin'?"

"Like shit. Hey, just before I woke up, I'm pretty sure I felt someone kiss me. Was that…" I had to stop to lick my lips. "Was that you?"

He turned a brilliant shade of crimson. "Blink?" I asked again.

"Grief makes people do some weird things, "he said, by way of response.

"It wasn't all that weird" I said softly, then realized he'd heard every word.

He smiled again. "So…how's your head?"

"Feels like Dutchy took his drum mallets and pounded on it for a few hours. Where is everyone?"

"They all succumbed to hunger. But don't worry, I made Spits go get me some food, 'cause I wanted to be here when youse woke up." And he flashed that brilliant smile again. "Believe it or not, we happen to care. And Spot feels super bad about all this."

"Spot gave me the shot, then…I can't remember anything else."

"That's cause you passed out, goofus."

"That'll do it, huh?"

"Yep" he replied, looking down at me, relief written all over his face. "You thirsty, Davey-boi?" he asked.

"Parched" I answered. "Got any Pepsi?"

"I'll go get some, there's a machine down the hall."

"OK, thanks."

"No problem" he said, and then pausing in the doorway, he said, so quietly I almost couldn't hear, "_Mi amor_."

My heart caught in my throat. My Spanish was terrible, but even I knew _'mi amor' _meant 'my love'. Did that mean…Blink loved me? Or was I just nuts, hearing things? I decided to believe he really had said that, which gave me a very good rush of endorphins. But that still left the question of whether or not I was actually gay. So I asked myself a couple of questions:

1). Was I attracted to Blink?

2.) Could I see myself committing to him, even in the face of torment and harassment?

3.) Was I in love with him?

#'s 1 and 2 were a big, fat, "NO DUH!", but #3 still needed some time. I mean, love is a BIG commitment, one I'd most likely be ready to make in a month or two.

This isn't to say we can't flirt and make out.

**CHAPINITA**

"She bangs, she bangs, oh baby" "God, I hate Ricky Martin!"

"And, Lord, I've been a long time gone!" "AAAH! Country!"

"With the lights out, it's less dangerous! Here we are now, entertain us!" "Ah, Nirvana. Better than nothin'."

In case you were wondering, that was me flipping through the radio stations in my car. I'm not totally crazy, after all. But I am Guatemalan, which entitles me to be a little _loco_. FEAR ME! And speaking of flying Asian monkeys…I'm kiddin' but I have seen a winged monkey. Don't tell me you've never seen Wizard of Oz! HELLO! Good movie. Awesome flying monkeys.

"Fly my pretties! FLY!" My cell rang in my purse. Oh, joy. My mother.

"Hola, mami. ¿Como estas?"

"¿Donde esta?" my mother almost shrieked at me.

"On my way to St. Joe's to visit one of my friends who was in an accident."

My mother has a soft spot for hurting people. I knew that'd soften her up.

"Well, you make sure to bring him some flowers, or something. Make him feel a little better, ¿_Comprende?_"

"Si, mami. I'm at the store, I'm gonna go find him something, OK?"

"Alright. Hasta luego."

"Hasta luego." I found him something within my budget and drove over to St. Joe's. I found Spitfire and everyone else in the cafeteria. Where else?

"Hola, fuega. ¿_Como estas?_"

"_Asi-asi, ¿y tu?"_

"_Bien._ _Como esta Dave?"_

"We don't know if he's woken up yet. We left Blink with him, in case he wakes up. We don't want the poor guy to wake up all alone."

"How considerate, _fuega_. Can I go give these to him?" I asked, holding up the flowers.

"Sure. Let's get going."

**BLINK**

I swear, I'm eventually going to ignite with all the sparks flying between me and Dave. He is so sweet and innocent. And he's probably a virgin, to boot. If he is…heh heh heh. I'll fix that. If he's not…well, so much the better.

Yeah, I'm a horny bastard. But I'm a horny gay bastard, which makes it even better. Ha ha ha. I got back with his Pepsi, gave it to him, and sat down next to him, so we could talk some more.

"So…didja like the Rainbow Meetings?" I asked, in an attempt to fill the very awkward silence.

"From what I can remember," he said, "They were OK."

"Good. Medda said she'd love for you to come back in two weeks. Think you'll be up to it?"

"I hope so. The doctor said they're keeping me overnight, but I can go home in the morning."

"Well, that's good news!" I said, cheerfully. But to my ears, it sounded slightly strained.

"So…how 'bout those Dodgers?" I asked, laughing. Then I explained how I'd asked him that while he'd been unconscious. I knew I should've kept my mouth shut, 'cause he brought up the kiss again.

"Why, Blink? Why'd you kiss me?"

"Why'd you kiss back?" A question for a question. "I thought you weren't gay. That's the reason you're in here in the first place. You started shrieking that you weren't gay at the top of your lungs. That's how you wound up here."

He looked embarrassed. "I…I don't know. I wasn't expecting it, so I guess…I just rolled with it." He looked apprehensive. "That's not to say it was bad (actually it was rather good), I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

I had caught up to 'Actually, it was rather good', then my brain shut down from sensory overload. If I was physically able, I probably would've done a cartwheel. Just then, everyone else plus Chapinita came trooping back into the room. A few things weren't right: For one thing, Spot was minus Itey, and that was just weird. Also, Spot looked like he'd been crying. Spot never, I repeat never cries. EVER.

"Blink! Here's your food. You owe me $1.50, that fiver wasn't enough. Hope you didn't do anything I wouldn't have done." There isn't a lot Liz wouldn't have done. She meant well, but she totally killed the mood.

"Hey, Blink" she said casually, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure."

I followed her into the hallway, and she kicked the door shut.

"First off, I'm sorry I ruined your moment. I couldn't think of a valid reason to keep them downstairs. Second, I walked in and the room reeked of unresolved sexual tension, so we'll try to get you two on a date, shall we? Third, tread carefully around Spot. Itey dumped him, 'cause I guess he thought we were psycho, and he made Spot choose. Spot chose us, but he really loved Itey. But, as he told me himself, now he can go after Jack. And fourth-" She stopped to draw breath. "I broke up with Jack. And now I feel so FREE!" She grinned. "And now I can go after Dutchy with any guilt whatsoever!"

She spun around and around in a circle. She finally stopped, she must've been getting dizzy, and her eyes were crossed. She looked at me, her eyes sparkling with mischief and laughter.

"Ya think after Davey gets out, he'd wanna go to The Human Music Box?"

The Human Music Box is a karaoke bar in the East Village. However, it's a bar. However, my uncle owns it, so my friends and I can come in whenever we want, and my uncle slips us drinks. Saturday and Liz are partial to wine coolers, but I'm more of a Samuel Adams' type guy. I smiled at the thought of the last time we were there. Izzy, Coin, and Liz went up and started singing 'Baby One More Time', and doing a funky routine they'd made up. My smile widened.

"Sure" I said. "Let's go next Saturday night. Maybe we can get him to do a pelvic thrust. Or two. Or three. Or a hundred."

END CHAPTER 

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**Turpentinechaser: **Glad someone appreciates my randomness as much as my friends. At last, someone who understands me. (Gives you a hug and a cookie) Thanx for the review!

**Saturday: **I KNEW I shouldn't have made Race your boyfriend. I KNEW I'd get tackled again, this brings the total up to-what? Somewhere around 100? Anyways…glad you love me so much. Hope you liked this!

**Sapphy:** Glad you like smacking Spot upside the head. I thought of you immediately as someone who could smack Spot and get away with it. LOL! Anyways…yeah…running out of ideas for a shoutout! Thanx for the review!

**Elvenrarehunter: **You ARE going in, I PROMISE! I'd already written Ch. 9 when you reviewed, but I worked you, Erin Go Braugh, Jinx, Melody, Alaska, and a couple of other people into the next chapter, so you're going in as soon as Ch.10 goes up! Please forgive the monster delay! I'm SOOOOO sorry! Love ya, thanx for the review!

**Anyone who hasn't gotten into the plotline yet:** Like I said, I'm VERY sorry for the monster delay, you ALL will go in, that's a PROMISE! It's just that I'd already mapped out a direction I wanted Ch.9 to go in, but you'll all get in. Please forgive me! I love you all! (Starts handing out cookies, muffins, and Handi-Snacks)

And a quote to round all this out with:

"I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes out there, because I know I'm not dumb…and I know I'm not blonde." –Dolly Parton


	10. Marching Band and POD

Disclaimer: Don't own diddly-squat. The characters belong to their respective owners, the Newsies belong to Disney, and all my friends belong to themselves. Otherwise, enjoy!

_It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them._Agatha Christie

**BRAIDS**

"I AM THE ALMIGHTY FLAGGOTT!! FEAR ME!!"

"Hey!"

"And you are my secondary flaggott, Liz."

"Thank you." And she gave me a very overly perky smile.

Yeah, we love guard. Got a problem wid it? Didn't think so.

It was a Monday morning, 20 minutes before marching band. We always get there early, 'cause Liz drives like an idiot, going twice the speed limit, so we're always there super early. I'm amazed she hasn't killed anyone yet. Although she has crawled up onto the curb a couple of times.

"You know, you don't wanna make your benevolent captain mad. 'Cause when I get mad, everyone gets mad."

"Ain't that the truth," I heard Izzy mutter.

Yeah, I'm the captain of the color guard, and sometimes I morph into bitch mode when things aren't perfect after the first couple of times. Ohm. Ohm. Breathe in, breathe out. Ohm.

"Hey, anybody seen Mandie? I've got her hat" I heard Liz say.

"She's probably ogling Mr. Nielsen, her favorite hobby" I heard Dutchy respond. Dutchy is the bass drum rank leader, and he's got Spot, Jack, and Race under him. There are six bass drums. The others have no chance. Band Geek is a trumpet, Liz's friend Kirsten(a.k.a. The Bouma) is a mellophone, Liz, Izzy, and myself are flaggotts, Dave transferred into the snares, and Dr. Allen is a trumpet. Yeah, we took over marching band, and it's SO much fun. Oh, yeah, and Sapphy is a flute. And she has heard every American Pie joke in the book so she slugs people instead of laughing.

Our show's theme this year is 'West Side Story', and it's an extremely cool show, if I do say so myself. Band Geek auditioned for drum major, but messed up on a tiny piece of the teaching portion, so someone else got it. Oh, well. She'll get it next year. I know it. Anyways, we needed to get going as soon as possible because we had a game coming up in 3 days, and we were still looking a touch sloppy.

"Mandie? MANDIE!" Liz was yelling. I followed her, if only to tell her to shut up. We found her outside the band office, as Dutchy had said, ogling our 37-year-old band teacher. Ew. But Mandie is happy whenever he's around, so who are we to judge?

"Yo, chica. You left your hat at my house" Liz said, in half her usual volume, 'cause Mandie was making "Shh!" gestures with her hands.

"Well, are you gonna take it, or what?!" Liz asked in exasperation. Mandie gave a huge sigh, grabbed it, and smashed it onto her head, over her bush of curly, frizzy brown hair.

"You're welcome, Ms. Frizzle" Liz said sarcastically. And she stalked off, quivering with indignation.

'We've got to get her a new fixation" she said under her breath.

"DUH!" Izzy and I chorused together.

"She's only liked him for…what? This is going on her third year?" asked Dutchy sarcastically.

Liz hauled her flags out of the cupboard, and pulled out her practice flag. They are pretty damn ugly, pink with a white stripe on top. They're actually heavier than our performance flags, for reasons I still haven't figured out. Oh, well. C'est la vie.

"Hey, Braids, you wanna go to The Human Music Box with us next Saturday?"

"Isn't that a bar?"

"Yeah, but Blink's uncle owns it, so he let Blink and all his friends come in whenever we want."

"Cool."

"So, you in?" she asked.

"Sure" I said. "I'm in. Sounds like fun."

"Cool."

"Cool," I agreed.

**JINX**

"Holly! Melody! Where the HELL are they?"

God knows, they're probably ogling the band guys changing into their uniforms.

It was Thursday after school. I was looking for Holly and Lizzi, 'cause we gonna go watch our friends in marching band perform during the half-time show. I found them (no shocker here) trying to watch the drum line get changed. They weren't having much luck, seeing as how the door was shut, and there was paper taped over the window. They were giggling to beat the band(A/N:Aww…bad pun…sorry. I'll try to control myself.), and that kind of thing annoys me.

So I snuck up behind them, clapped one hand over each of their mouths, and said, "Please stop giggling! They're trying to get changed, I have a headache, and we need to go get seat in the section near the band! ¡_Vamos_!"

So we headed out to the stadium, bought our tickets, and spread our stuff over one row next to the band section. Our band is bizarre. They can't just file in.

Oh, no.

They have to march down to the field, drums beating, flag girls turning, drums majors with those stupid hat on, etc. Oh, well. The half-time show is worth it, buh-lieve me! We have close to twenty friends in band, now that Dave's transferred into the snares.

Here's a rundown:

3 trumpets(Dr. Allen, Band Geek, and Blue)

2 mellophones(The Bouma and Skitts)

3 flags(Izzy, Braids, and Liz)

4 bass drums(Spot, Jack, Dutchy, and Race)

2 snare drums(Snitch and Dave)

2 flutes(Sapphy and Alaska)

1 saxophone(Jenny K.)

I heard a series of drum beats, so I turned around and saw all 220-odd members of the marching band coming toward me, a wave of blue and white and black. There were also small flashes of color from the color guard's flag bags. They filed into the stadium, taking up one whole section, and making a HUGE amount of noise. I found Jenny, and went over to talk to her.

"Hey, Jenny. How ya doin'?"

"Hey, Jinx. I'm doin' pretty good. A little tired and depressed, but okay. You?"

"I've got a headache, and your noise, and the giggling of Broadway and Melody, does NOT help any. But I'll live. You're gonna play a kick-ass show, right?"

She gave me a small smile. "Sure. Hey, you might wanna watch out for Braids, Izzy, and Liz. They each drank a Mountain Dew before they came down here, and they're wired out to here."

Oh, speak of the devils.

"And where have you three little hellions been?" I heard Mandie ask.

"Bathroom" they said in unison.

'Figures' I thought.

"And why did you three think it was necessary to drink a Mountain Dew a piece before we got down here?" asked Jenny.

"We was thirsty!" said Braids indignantly.

"So you drank the one brand of pop with the most caffeine in it. Smart. Real smart."

They all bowed. "Thank you, thank you!" said Izzy, very dramatically.

I rolled my eyes. In case you couldn't guess, most of my friends LOVE to perform, which is why they're in drama club, choir, and band. I'm in all but band-not really my thing.

**SPITFIRE**

"TREY PARKER!" I shouted.

"ELIZABETH KRUEGER!" he bellowed back.

"Ain't no mountain high!" I sang.

"Ain't no valley low!" he sang back, and we sang the rest in unison.

"If you need me, call me! No matte where you are, no matter how far! 'Cause, baby there AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH, AIN'T NO VALLEY LOW ENOUGH! AIN'T NO RIVER WIDE ENOUGH! TO KEEP ME FROM GETTING TO YOU, BABE!"

I sat down next to Blink, and we watched as Izzy and Braids quoted random lines from 'RENT' and 'The Pirates of Penzance', respectively.

"How's it goin' with you and Little Drummer Boy #3?" I asked, with a huge grin on my face.

"You're enjoying my misery, aren't you?" he asked, in an attempt at seriousness.

"Of course!" I replied cheerfully. I grabbed his arm, and we started dancing around the bleachers, singing 'Higher Ground' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"'TILL I REACH THE HIGER GROUND!!" we finished, just as the announcer started talking.

"Hey, Blink, I've got to go sit with the guard, but let's go to Pizza Hut afterwards, OK? Tell Jinx and Melody and Broadway for me, ¿_por favor, me uno-ojo amigo?_"

He laughed. "Sure thing. But how are we gonna cram…" He paused to count. "…19 people in your car, Spits?"

"We aren't gonna, dumbass" I replied, smacking him upside the head.

"We'll have to take multiple cars, no duh."

"Oh, yeah."

Geez, sometimes blink is SO dense. The first half of the game passed rather quickly, 'cause all I did was talk to people. Yes!

Halftime!

**DR. ALLEN**

Hey, I get to talk! Cool! Now you've gotta listen to me! Anyways, I almost quit marching band after my freshman year, but I didn't because band ROX!

Anyways: Halftime. When we show those idiots form the other schools marching bands who's boss! From my place in the trumpet section, I could see Mandie, Braids, Liz and The Bouma. The drum majors took their places.

"Detail, atten-HUT!"

"ONE!" we all shouted back.

"1,2, 1,2,3,4!"

I saw Mr. Nielsen mouth the opening counts. We played the opening notes of 'Maria', 'cause the trumpets open up that song. Then everyone kicks in their two bits, but trumpets are still the coolest. Ha ha!

We played a totally kick-ass show, everyone seemed to be performing extra well, giving 120%. Mr. Nielsen always makes us give 110%, so we end up somewhere around 106%. But it was like they were possessed, and…yeah…I'm babbling. Anyways, we ended up losing the game, but it was against West Side High, and we never win against them. The last time we did, was, like, in 1967, or something. Whatever.

"Yo, Alec!" I heard Liz call. "Spankin' show! You were great. Oh, and you, too, Mandie, Braids, Izzy, et. al, it takes too long to name everyone I know in band. To all 19 people I'm friends with in band, kick-ass show! And everyone…else, awesome show!"

I laughed. Liz has this thing about not leaving anyone out. It's rather weird, to tell you the truth.

"Hey, Alec!" came my girlfriend Christina's voice. "Good show tonight."

"Thanks" I said, smiling at her and giving her a hug,

"Dutchy!" I heard Blink and Liz yell. "Gimme a beat!"

Dutchy is my twin brother, and he plays the bass drum. He struck up 'Boom' by P.O.D., and Liz and Blink started to sing.

"BOOM!"

"HERE COMES THE-"

"BOOM!"

"READY OR NOT, HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW!"

And they started doing a rather bizarre hip-hop dance, totally in step with one another. Lord. They are extremely bizarre. Yeah, they're my best friends. Ain't life grand?

SHOUTOUTS 

HA HA HA!! Ch. 10 is COMPLETED!! IT LIVES!! IT LIVES!! Ok, sorry, I'm done now.

**SAPPHY: **Spot says that if he weren't gay, you would definitely be the first person he came running to for comfort. I agree, Itey IS stupid for making Spot choose.

**COIN: **Hurrah to slashy goodness! LOL! The Dave/Blinkiness is oozing out my brain, but my muses are rebelling against me. It's not that I can't think of anything, but I have six different ideas for my multi-chaptered fics. Oh, and Mush wants to say something:

**Mush:** (singing) _And I will love you, 'till forever._

_ Until death do us part, we'll be together. _

_Just take my hand, and hold on tight, and we'll get there. _

_This I Swear._

**ME: **(eye roll) He's a bit of a hopeless romantic. But it's fun to write him that way. Love ya, thanx for the review!

**Erin Go Braugh: **Yeah! Another update! LOL! I'm just on a spree, aren't I? YIPPEE!! It's fun to feel like I'm slowly catching myself up. Hope you liked this one, you're in it! Love ya, thanx for the review!

**SATURDAY: **Youse get a very vague shout out, and a plea to come back, because it seems like she's fallen off the face of the earth, or something. No updates, no reviews, no nothing! (cries) Any who: IZZY, COME BACK!

**ElvenRareHunter: **See, I TOLD you you'd get into this one, and I keep my word! Hurrah for keeping promises! Love ya, thanx for the review! Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I put you in as a giggler, I just had an idea for some people to spy on the drum line, so, that's where you went!

**Turpentinechaser: **Glad you liked it. This one was exceedingly random, 'cause when I wrote it, I kinda had marching band on the brain!

**Newsies:** Nah, ya THINK?!

**Me:** Geez, my muses sure are cranky. Must be 'cause it's raining, and I won't let them go out. You know what? I've changed my mind. They CAN go out, as long as they get sopping wet, and let their clothes cling to them. (grins evilly) This shall be most enjoyable…OK, youse guys, you can go out.

**Newsies:** YEAH!! (all rush for the door at once)

**ME:** (eye roll) Gotta love 'em!

A/N: I seem to be on a roll of inserting rather bad puns into my latest chapters, but I'll try to control my impulses, for the sake of my eye-rolling reviewers. But youse guys still love me anyway, right? O' course ya do!


	11. Chatting and Chowing

One Of Those Days-Ch.11 

Disclaimer: You know the drill: Don't own the Newsies, the original characters belong to themselves, and my friends own themselves (I think.). Anywho…read on for randomness!!(And WAAAAAAAAY too much processed cheese and caffeine, LOL!!)

_"Music is your own experience, your own thought, your own wisdom."_-Charlie Parker

**SPOT**

My name is Gabriel 'Spot' Conlon, and I'm gay, flaming gay, as a matter of fact, so if you've got a problem with that, leave now.

OK, now we've weeded out all the homophobes. Good.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE MUSIC!! Which is why I'm in marching band, Singers, and jazz band. So I have an eight period day, but it's worth it. 'Course, that ALSO means I have to get up super-early, and I go to bed super-late, but like I said, it's worth it.

I think.

But…right now, I was watching Liz wind her way from person to person, telling them something, talking, laughing, (smacking Blink upside the head). She eventually found her way over to me, and sat down next to me, our tattoo halves touching. Yeah, when we were 13, we ran away from home, told a tattoo shop owner we were orphans, and persuaded him to give us two tattoos each. We got the two halves on our upper arms, then she got some phrase in Spanish, and I got the Latin phrase, 'Quod me nutrit me destruit'. 'What nourishes me also destroys me'. Then we ran back home. We got grounded for forever, but it was worth it. 'Thick as thieves', our mothers called us.

Eh, whatever.

We've actually managed to keep our mothers from finding out about our ink by getting them high up enough on our shoulders so that our shirtsleeves cover them. But the color guard uniforms have no sleeves, so Liz is outta luck. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I laugh at her plight. But only a little bit, cross my heart.

"Hey, Spotty", she said, giving me a hug and grinning. She toyed with my hair. "Purple streaks. Nice touch. Listen, after the game, we're going out for pizza. Can you take…" She looked at a piece of paper. "Jack, Blink, and Dave in your car?"   
"Sure thing, _mi amiga_", I said. "Just…they aren't gonna start making out in the back seat, are they?"

"Not that you'd mind." She laughed. "But Dave isn't totally sure he's gay yet."

"I could fix that," I said, grinning wickedly.

At this point, I suppose I should mention, that, in addition to the purple streaks and tattoos, I have an eyebrow ring, a tiny diamond in my nose, and, currently, I had painted my nails purple and was wearing one coat of black mascara.

Yeah, I'm a flamer. Ain't it great?

"I think we should tell 'em after the game. They're our best friends, they've got a right to know."

"We've kept it a secret for 16 years, let's keep it that way, 'k, babe?"

"Don't people ask you about the tattoo, Spot? '_El fin_' doesn't make a whole lot of sense all by itself, does it? It's like when you were in the closet(short time that it was, admittedly), you weren't being true to yourself."

I looked at her. She had a point, but I still wasn't sure. Then she made me an offer I couldn't refuse:

"If we tell 'em tonight, I'll pay for another piercing, AND I'll do your nails every week for a month. And touch-ups whenever you need it."

I can't refuse a decent manicure. And I'd been wanting my actual lobes pierced for a while, but I couldn't afford it.

"OK" I said, resignedly. "I'll do it."

"Oh, _gracias, mi amigo! Dios, estoy feliz!! Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!!_'" And she proceeded to dance away happily, almost stepping on Snitch as she went.

Hey, it's not her fault he's so damn short. She can't make him grow.

I couldn't help but feel a slight sense of foreboding, though.

So, the game ended and we got changed. I was wearing really tight jeans, a white muscle shirt (also tight, sensing a pattern here?), and grungy old sneakers.

I looked pretty damn sexy, if I do say so myself.

Liz came out of the color guard room, wearing a denim mini, a black camisole, and a white shirt kinda like an Oxford, unbuttoned, over the camisole, and black knee-high lace-up boots. However, being normal was never her strong point, so she'd put in Day-Glo pink laces, spray-painted parts of the boots silver, and had glitter painted the phrase 'Color guard-Can't handle it? Try cheerleading!'

She inhaled sharply. "OK, let's get moving, _mi amigo_!" she said briskly. We all piled into our respective cars, and headed over to Pizza Hut, which is only 10 minutes away from school, but we usually make it in 5.

Heh heh heh…twice the speed limit. Although there was that one time I got pulled over for going 80 in a 25 zone…but we won't get into that. Anyways…

We got there, and we were told it would be a 20-minute wait. We were all kinda pissed off, but there wasn't a lot we could do about it.

Eh, whatever.

So we all sat down, and proceeded to rehash every little detail of everything that had happened at the game, with emphasis on cheerleaders who are also flute players, who also happen to be blonde, are evil sluts. There was a general murmur of agreement, and we were just about to imitate the fight song dance, when our names were called.

"Damn" said Liz. "I was hoping to scare that waiter who kept staring at me. He kinda gave me the creeps." We both laughed.

We ended up sitting at three long tables in the center of the room, after all, there WERE 19 of us. Everybody sat down except her and I.

"Guys" she said, "We have an announcement."

"Spot's straight!" Sapphy yelled jokingly. We all laughed. There's no way in HELL I could possibly be straight.

"Nooo" said Liz, looking at me a little apprehensively. We stood next to each other, and she took off her over shirt, so our two tattoo halves made a whole.

"I didn't think it was possible for the two of you to be any weirder" said Jack, shaking his head. "Congratulations, youse two have managed to prove me wrong."

"So…what do the words mean?" asked Cassie. "'Cause…that ain't English, am I right?"

"You're right. It's Spanish. It says '_Primos a el fin_'. And it means 'Cousins to the end'" I said, shooting her a death glare. This wasn't going the way I'd pictured it.

"Shut up, Spot! Anyways, as I was GOING to say before I was so rudely interrupted… we didn't tell you because we didn't know how'd you react. Also, I'm changing my name. Last name. The papers come through in two days. I'll be a Conlon for life" she grinned, throwing her arm around my shoulders.

"Bein' a Conlon ain't all THAT great" I said, pinching her arm.

She kicked me. "We are cousins of the most insane kind, and we love each other, no matter what" she added, giving me a hug. "Usually."

"HEY!!"

Everyone was quiet, looking at us, processing the information.

"We forgive youse guys for not telling us" Dutchy said at last.

"Thanks" she said. "No, can we please order? I need my pepperoni and caffeine!" Everybody laughed and ordered. When the drinks came, Mandie stood up.

"I'd like to propose a toast: To the Conlon cousins, who are now 'Out of the closet', so to speak!"

"To the Conlon cousins!" everybody cheered. I sank into a char in relief. So my second 'coming out' was a success, after all.

"Hey Spot" Liz said. "We'll get your ears pierced tomorrow, OK? And we'll buy some topcoat, I'm running out. Any particular color preferences?"

"Hot pink" I said, jokingly. "But bright neon blue would be better, I think."

She laughed and gave me yet another hug.

I took a sip of my Mountain Dew, and a bite of my pizza.

Ah. Life is good.

**BROADWAY**

So those two are related. Odd. Supremely odd. But, then again, you know, the whole world is kind of odd. But anyways, back to me…just kidding.

"So, Liz, what's it like being related to the gayest guy in school?" I asked, winking at her.

"Eh…it's OK" she said, laughing.

"Hey!" came Spot's voice indignantly.

"Eh, Spotty, ya know I'm just kiddin'" she said, laughing and punching him lightly on the arm.

Now, obviously, you've seen 1 or 2 teenagers eat, maybe 5, maximum. But nineteen is a sight you'll most likely never see again. 19 kids chowing on pizza, hot wings, garlic bread, and soda.

It's INSANE.

After we finished eating, we all chipped in some money for he bill, piled into our cars, and drove home. I dropped off Melody and Jinx, and then drove myself home. Thankfully, we all live close to each other, so I got home by curfew.

"Hello, Cassie" my mother said, looking up from the paper. "Did you have a nice time with your friends?"

"Yeah, I did" I said, smiling and giving her a hug. "I found out Liz and Spot are related. Their mothers are sisters. Kinda weird, huh?"  
"Oh, I like Spot and Lizzy" my mother said, laughing.

"I didn't say I didn't, but it's kinda weird, I mean, they never told us before now, and they have tattoos! Hey Mom-"

"No tattoos, Cassie, not while you're under my roof."

I pouted slightly. "All right. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"Good night, dear. I love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

But I didn't go to bed. I went upstairs to my room and signed on to AIM. Jinx, Sapphy, Blink, and Liz were on. I sent them a Chat Invitation, and they all accepted.

**Colorguard4life:** What's up, Cassie? Couldn't sleep?

**Theatrefreak226:** Not really. Hey, everybody.

**Thirdeyeblind:** Queer Eye needs a 6th member, dontcha think? Can you say 'reality show star'?

**MatchinLaces:** LOL!

**JewelEyes235:** Blink, you're so GAY!

**Thirdeyeblind:** I know! Ain't it great?

**Theatrefreak226: **I could definitely see you on Queer Eye, Blink. Only thing is, what would you specialize in?

**Colorguard4life:** ::snorts, then laughs:: Not fitness, that's for damn sure

**Thirdeyeblind:** ::gives her the finger::

**JewelEyes235:** ::in a falsetto:: Children, stop fighting this instant!!

**MatchinLaces:** You tell 'em Sapphy!

**JewelEyes235:** LOL! I'm either gonna end up a teacher or a boxer! J/K!!

**Colorguard4life:** Ya know, ya gotta give Blink his props. He's got a nice face, a genuine smile, and sometimes he's honest to a fault

**Theatrefreak226:** Sorry, which Blink is this that's honest to a fault? LOL! 'Cause the Blink I know, he'll tell riddles and half-truths, but never the whole truth

**Thirdeyeblind:** Cassie. Shut. Up.

**Colorguard4life: **all right, youse two, break it up!

**JewelEyes235:** Great, crowd control's here. Party's over. Run, my pretties, run!

**Theatrefreak226:** Hey, Izzy signed on, I'm inviting her, 'K?

**Rafikiroxmysox:** Hey, people!

**Colorguard4life: **Hey, Izzy, I'm surprised you could move. You ate, what? Eight pieces of pizza, five hot wings, and half a loaf of garlic bread?  
**Rafikiroxmysox: **Hey! I only ate three hot wings! And a quarter loaf of garlic bread!

**MatchinLaces:** LOL! I hate your metabolism, Izzy! I absolutely despise it!

**Rafikiroxmysox:** I know. LOL!!

**JewelEyes235:** You guys are weird and strange

**JewelEyes235:** Hey, if you spill gold glitter nail polish on your keyboard, is that bad?

**Colorguard4life:** ::snorts:: It's not generally preferred, Sapphy. What is that, your sixth spill? Your keyboard looks like a glittery rainbow now, don't it?

**JewelEyes235:** Yep, yep, yep!

**Thirdeyeblind:** Girls talk too much

**Theatrefreak226:** Look who's talkin', Mr. 'I-Had-Six-Mountain-Dews-and-started-reciting-the-amendments-to-the-Constitution-as-fast-as-I-could'. You're not one to talk

**Thirdeyeblind:** Shut up!

**Colorguard4life:** I know where this would go if it were you and I talking, Blink!

'L' is for the way you look at me, 'O' is for the only one I see…

**Rafikiroxmysox: **'V' is very, very, extraordinary, 'E' is even more than anyone that you adore…

**Colorguard4life:** Can love! Is all that I can give to you! Love! Is more than just a game for two…

**Rafikiroxmysox:** Two in love can make it! Take my heart and please don't break it! Love! Was made for me and you!

**Thirdeyeblind:** are you two numbskulls quite finished?

**Colorguard4life:** randomness is never done!

**Rafikiroxmysox: **But for now, yes, we are done. Until we feel the need to sing again

**MatchinLaces:** My mom's telling me to go to sleep, I'll see you guys tomorrow, 'k?

**JewelEyes235:** Bye, Jinx!

MatchinLaces has left the chat 

**Theatrefreak226:** Yeah, I should probably go, too. See you guys!

Theatrefreak226 has left the chat 

**Colorguard4life: **They're droppin' like flies! BLINK! Did you forget deodorant again?!

**Thirdeyeblind:** ::sniffs:: Nope, I'm good!

**Rafikiroxmysox:** LOL!!

**Colorgurad4life:** Hey, Blink, are we still on for band practice Dietze on Saturday?

**Thirdeyeblind:** Elves and Hobbits United! Yeah, 2:00 OK?

**Colorguard4life:** Works for me. Didja tell everyone else?

**Thirdeyeblind:** Yeah, Dutchy and Skitts are cool, but I can't get a hold of Mush

**Colorguard4life:** I'll call him. I've got his cell#

**Rafikiroxmysox:** When's your next concert?

**Thirdeyblind:** Christmas :-P We're playing the Winter Formal(or whatever it is they call the Christmas Dance so they don't offend anyone), and we're getting PAID!! WOO-HOO!!

**Colorguard4life:** WOO-HOO!! ::slaps Blink a high-five::

**Colorgurad4life:** :-P My mom's telling me to get off. Christ, it's 12:30! Izzy, Sapphy. we have band in 7 hours. Come on, everyone, bedtime!

**Thirdeyeblind:** Yes, mother! LOL! Bye, guys!

JewelEyes235 has left the chat 

**Colorguard4life: **Oh, Blink! Before I forget, Dave's s/n is StarofDavid8810. Told you I'd find it!

**Thirdeyeblind:** Thanx. Bye!

Colorguard4life has left the chat 

_Thirdeyeblind had left the chat_

**Rafikiroxmysox:** I'm all ALOOOOOOONE! There's no one here beside ME! My problems have all gone! There's no one to DERIIIIIIIVE MEEEEEEEEEE!!

Rafikiroxmysox has left the chat 

WOO-HOO!! It's DONE!! Eight pages, but it's worth it! YIPPEE AND YEE-HAW!!

Ahem. ::clears throat::

Anyways…on to shoutouts:

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**Sapphy: **Spot says you may be his fag hag anytime you want, and is offended that you'd think otherwise. In fact, he wants to say something…

**Spot:** Sapphy, we been friends a long time, right? So, Ise gotta tell youse…Ise in love with Jackie-boi. But like she said, youse can be my fag hag whenever youse want to.

**ME:** There, now. Isn't that all better?

**NEWSIES:** ::collective eye roll::

**ME:** Oh, go on strike or something!

Love ya, thanx for the review!

**Saturday: **I give people shoutouts who haven't reviewed in a couple of weeks, if they've reviewed, they're getting one. That's just the way it goes.

Anyways, I must say I LOVED the way Race and Bumlets finished each other's sentences. I put it in my profile, like, two seconds after I read it, it was THAT good. And I forgive you for not telling me you were at camp. I thought you were boycotting me, or something. I am extremely paranoid. Oh, well. I've decided to give you a present.

**ME: **::whispering:: Hey, Bumlets, get in the box!

**BUMLETS:** WHY am I being given to Izzy again?

**ME:** Because it's her birthday in a couple of months. It's in October.

**BUMLETS:** So…couldn't this wait a couple of months?!

**ME:** Nope, because I'm the Queen of the World, and I say so. Now, GET IN THE DAMN BOX!!

**BUMLETS:** Yeesh! Cranky much?!

**ME:** ::tapes the box shut, tucks her hair behind her ears, and gives the box to Izzy. Who promptly faints from bliss::

**ME:** Who knew she was so emotional? ::walks off leaving her on the ground, and Bumlets in the box::

**BUMLETS:** ::muffled:: GET ME OUTTA HERE!!

Love ya, see ya, thanx for reviewing!!

Oo Long shoutout 

**Erin Go Bruagh: **Yes, I mentioned marching band in my story. Only because it's the greatest thing on the planet!! LOL! Love ya, thanx for the review!! Yeah, but you actually get to TALK in the next chapter, so that's cool right? Love you, thank you SO much for reviewing! (P.S. Did you know your penname means 'Go Ireland'? That's pretty cool, since I'm one-fourth Irish!)

**COIN: **Did you know that you are getting to be one of my more faithful reviewers? It's true! ::glomps you:: I like faithful reviewers! I know! I'm gonna give you Mush in a box!

**MUSH:** Aren't I already dating her?

**ME:** Oh, yeah. Well, what am I gonna give her?

**MUSH:** Give her something with polka dots on it.

**ME:** OK! I'll give you polka dot boxers to wear when she's around!

**MUSH:** Not exactly what I had in mind…

**SPOT:** I think it sounds hot.

**ME:** Spot, of COURSE you think it's hot. You're GAY for crying out loud!

**SPOT:** ::pouts very cutely::

**ME:** ::melodramatic sigh:: But we love ya anyway! ::cuddles him::

**MUSH:** OK, youse guys are REALLY starting to scare me! ::backs away slowly, not taking his eyes off of us::

**SPOT AND ME:** ::in unison:: What's his problem? ::collective shrug::

Oo 'Nother long shoutout, but it was worth it!

**Cassies-Grandma: **I thought I put you in, unless I forgot your CC's name, which I probably did, knowing me. LOL!! Anyways, you can e-mail me your info if you want, and I'll try and put you in. It's: But if you don't want to, that's OK too. Thanks for cluing me into that!

**MatchinLaces: **Yeah, I figured it was about TIME I put you in. I can't blame you for quitting flute, theatre is SO much better! Love ya, thanx for the review!

Ah, _c'est la vie!_ I must go! I love you all, hope you enjoyed it, it FRIED MY BRAIN!! Toodles!


	12. Random Thoughts & Shrek 2

I bet you all thought I died, didn't you. DIDN'T YOU?!

Well, I didn't. HAHAHA! An update! I'm sorry it's taken so long, but I've been in Florida, and band camp started, and just…yeah. Anyways, here it is: CHAPTER 12! WOO-HOO!!

MELODY 

"Dude!" I said to Dave, sitting in Oral Comm the next day. "Did we have any homework yesterday?"

"You dork, we always have homework in this class. But it was just to work on your speech some more."

I breathed a sigh of relief. But I breathed too soon.

"Ms. Lizzi, would you care to tell the class what your speech is about?" asked Davis, my Oral Comm teacher.

"I could, but that'd give it away" I said, in a smart-aleck tone of voice.

"Are you always this sassy?" he asked.

"Pretty much" I said easily, flipping my white-blonde hair over my shoulder.

"OK, now I'm telling you to explain to us what your speech is about."

I sighed melodramatically. "OK! It's about how society is falling into decline because teenagers don't read enough, and the literacy rate's going down. We need to bring it up."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

"Augh…whatever."

As he walked away, I heard him mutter, "Little hellion".

"Damn straight" I said under my breath.

"So Davey" I said, after class had ended and we were headed to lunch. "How do ya like EBH?"

"It's pretty good" he said, giving me a smile. "I like the people, especially."

I smiled too. He meant Blink, first and foremost, but I was glad he liked all us little people too.

"So what's for lunch?" I asked, trying to see the menu over all the tall people in front of me.

"Umm…macaroni and cheese, pepperoni pizza, and sub sandwiches. They all sound yummy."

"So just do what everyone else does and take one of everything! And come on, you're holding up the line" said Spot behind me. I noticed Spot's nails were alternating black and neon blue today. Sigh. He always was doing stuff like that. "Your fingernails look bruised, Spotty," I said, half smiling.

"Hey! I painted them!" Liz said indignantly. "Base coat, two coats of color, top coat, and a special flash dry. I tell you, that damn manicure took 45 minutes, 'cause I had to buff, and that took 15 minutes, and the polish took 30, because they had to dry between coats. And Spot is so picky! 'You got a drop on my cuticle, that nail needs more buffing…' Blah blah blah. He's worse than a girl."

Spot punched her on the arm. "You of all people should know how particular I am about my nails."

"Oh, shut up Spot" she said laughing, and returned his punch.

"You know we're all insane!" Sapphy piped up cheerfully behind us.

"DUH!" said Dave bonking her lightly on the head. She smacked him, and picked up a plate of macaroni and cheese.

"Ugh. Processed cheese. Yet, somehow, they still manage to make it taste good" Liz said thoughtfully, also picking up a plate.

"Insane psycho lunatics" I laughed.

And so we sat down to eat.

SAPPHY 

I am completely and totally bored.

Seriously. I have no date plans, no friends have called, and there's nothing good on TV tonight. Then my phone rang.

"Newsies Jail, current population:0, but working on it, Warden Sapphy speaking."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone, then hysterical laughter.

"Hey…hey Sapphy" I heard Izzy choke out between giggles. "What's up?"

"Sittin' at home being extremely bored. What's with you?"

"Wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me, Spot, Dutchy, and Spitfire."

"Sure!" I said brightly. Someone cared! "Which movie?"

"How 'bout Shrek 2?" she suggested. "It's hysterical!"

"OK!" I said. "I loved the first one, so the second one should be even BETTER!"

So we went to the theatre, and got tickets.

"Hey" said Izzy. "There's Race behind the snack counter! Let's go say Hi!" And before I could say anything, she was off.

"I didn't know Race worked here," I said to the Secret Window movie poster. Then I trudged off after Izzy.

High-spirited little pixie.

"Hey Race" I said, coming up to the counter.

"Heya Sapphy" he said, grinning at me. "What'll ya have?"

"Ummm…a large Cherry Coke, a box of Dots, and a small popcorn."

"OK, that'll be…$8.75" he said, punching some keys on the register.

I pulled out my wallet and handed him a ten. "Ya know, movie theatres make a killing off snacks. It's SO not fair."

"Damn straight. How the hell else would I get paid?" he said, laughing.

"At least you don't have to spend $10 on stuff that only costs you fifty cents to make" said Dutchy, coming up behind me. "It's capitalism and inflation at its worst."

"Dutchy. Quit using big words. Us mere mortals have tiny brains" said Spitfire, laughing.

"Aw, Spits, your brain ain't that tiny" he said, laughing. "Now, Spot, on the other hand…" he said, gesturing at Spot.

"Screw you," muttered Spot. And we all got our snacks and files into the theatre to get seats. We then proceeded to watch the FUNNIEST movie I've ever seen in my entire life.

"Well, Shrek and I, we drank some magic potion, and, well, now we're SEXY!" said Izzy in a really bad Eddie Murphy impersonation. We all cracked up.

"That was one of the funniest movies I've EVER seen!" said Dutchy, taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes.

"Anybody need a ride?" asked Spot.

"Nah, I've got my car" I said. "But thanks, Spot. This" I said, turning to the group and putting my arm around Spot, "Is why we keep Mr. Conlon around."

Spot looked at me with pronounced amusement. "Why, Sapphy, I do believe you're turning into a fag hag!" he said, laughing and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"I've been a fag hag," I said, laughing and returning his kiss.

Gawd, I love Spot.

BLUE 

"Maria! Yadda yadda, yadda yadda, yadda yadda! Duh, duh-duh duh-duh, duh-Oh, screw it!"

There's no good way to vocalize _Maria_ unless you actually know all of the words.

My phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kate" came Braid's voice down the line. "Whatcha up to?"

"Not much. Trying to sing scat to _Maria_. You?"

She laughed. "Hopefully you aren't as bad as that chick on American Idol, who tried to sing scat to 'Rt. 66' and ended up totally botching it." She laughed again, and so did I.

"No WAY I could be as bad as that chick, but William Hung was the WORST! Can you believe he actually put out a CD?!" And we proceeded to have a long conversation about all the pros and cons of the contestants, past and present, on American Idol.

"Katherine! Get off the phone, other people need to use it too, you know!" my mother yelled up the stairs at me.

"Gotta go, Braids, the maternal unit needs to use the phone. Talk to ya later."

"See ya Monday."

I hung up the phone, and took it down to my mother. "There, mother! Happy?!" I said in a voice of mock-anger.

She just rolled her eyes at me. I grabbed a Coke, made myself a bologna sandwich, and headed back up to my room. I turned on my computer and signed on to AIM, but no one was on, so I signed off again.

I flopped onto my bed, wondering why the hell my life was so boring.

"Well" I said to my walls, which were plastered with band pictures, "I guess I'll have to make my own fun."

So I turned on the T.V.

END CHAPTER 

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**Elvenrarehunter: **Glad you liked your character. I didn't put a whole TON of thought behind it, but there was some nonetheless. I also like the way Skittery keeps popping up whenever he feels like it, very interesting. Me likee. LOL, thanx for the review!

**Depends Solomon:** I dunno if ANYONE should read all 11 chapters at one sitting, your brain might blow up, or something. I'm glad you liked it, half of it doesn't make since to me, and I'M the author! Gah, FINALLY, someone who believes me when I say that Blink and Dave are ALWAYS next to each other in group shots. That's actually what gave me the idea for the paring. Wild, huh? LOL, love ya, thanx for reviewing!

**SATURDAY: **My dear, you have repaid me for that 'hysterical shoutout' as you called it so wonderfully, by shoving Dutchy in a box for me. Granted, he was a little rumpled, and kinda pissed off at you when he came out, but now he's all better. ((grins evilly)) Ahem. Love ya, latah, thanx for reviewing!

P.S. Dutchy says if you EVER stuff him in a box again, he's going to hunt you down with your own spears that you used to threaten me with when I didn't update. LOL! He's a little over protective, but it's cute, dontcha think? LOL

**Erin Go Braugh: **Actually, I found it means 'Ireland Forever', since I'm in a really technical mood today. LOL, j/k! SUBITO!! I love it! Our band has this whole thing where our director lists the five points in line, and we have to respond, then the whole thing ends with "How do we carry ourselves?" And the whole band shouts back, "WITH PRIDE!!" "HOW?!" "WITH PRIDE!!" Gah, marching bands are weird. LOL, thanx for reviewing!

**Sapphy: **Spot says you may most definitely paint his toenails any time you please, just call him up, he's got EVERY polish color known to mankind, so you don't bring nothin' but you.

Spot: HEY! You make me sound like…well…like a goil!

ME: Well…gay men are really feminine!

Spot: Aw, shut up and let me enjoy my pedicure! Sapphy, how 'bout the black and orange every other nail?

Sapphy: ((starts singing 'Defying Gravity')) Oh, you mean me! Sure!

Love ya, thanx for reviewing!!

Sorry this took so long, band camp, the youth gathering, everything…sorry, but on the upside, I downloaded 'Defying Gravity' form Wicked, and I've fallen IN LOVE with it, it ROX MY SOX!!! YEAH IDINA MENZEL!! WOO-HOO!! ((clears throat)) Sorry. Hope you guys liked, please review, but no flames, _por favor. _((starts singing)) "And nobody, in all of Oz, no Wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring me down!!" A flame would be like finding out RENT wasn't coming to my town after all, it was just an elaborate joke put on by the people at the Lied Center to get my hopes up and then dash them again. Anyways…yeah…

Latah, love ya, bye!


	13. Ferries and Fairies

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill.

A/N: Yeah…so…I wrote this when my family went on vacation to NYC, that's how lazy I am about updating. This is one long-ass chapter, 'cause I got uber-bored in the hotel, 'cause I slept on the fold-out couch, and everybody else slept in the other room, and I stayed up late and wrote and watched old episodes of _The Nanny_ at 1:00 a.m. Anyways, I'm babbling, so…on with the chapter! (trombones blare)

One Of Those Days-Ch. 13

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." –Gandhi

**SATURDAY AFTERNOON**

**DUTCHY**

"AW, CRUD! I'M LATE FOR BAND PRACTICE!"

It was Saturday afternoon, about 1:45. Band practice didn't start 'till 2:00, but Dietze is 20 minutes away from where I live, and that's if I hit all the lights right. And I knew exactly what would happen if I walked in late: "Dutchy. How many times do I have to tell you?! Band practice is not like Singers class, we actually start on time!"

"Alec! Alec! Where are the car keys?" I yelled in exasperation. "You drove it last, where the HELL are they?!"

Alec came out of his room, handed me the keys, then turned around and headed straight back into his room.

I swear, I'm beginning to think my brother is turning into a hermit.

So I got into my car (alright, OUR car), and started heading off towards Dietze. And-of course!-got stopped at a red light 10 minutes from my house.

"Figures" I muttered under my breath. So, I was stuck in traffic for about 10 minutes, and when I finally pulled into Dietze's parking lot, I knew I was in for a tongue-lashing. And, as soon as I got in, Liz shot me the ultimate death glare. "Dutchy. I'm not even gonna bother to chew you out. Just-sit down. We've been trying to practice (OK, Mush and Blink have been having a riff duel), but we've been held up. Can we just get started?!" Then her expression changed. "Guess what we got in yesterday? You'll absolutely love it!" She went to a back room and unlocked it. "Close your eyes!" she yelled.

So I did. And then I felt someone tickle me in the ribs. I yelped with laughter, but I didn't open my eyes. I heard her grunting, cursing when she dropped something on her foot, and Blink gasping.

"OK, Dutchy" she said dramatically. "Open your eyes!"

I did.

And my jaw dropped.

She had brought out a brand-new Pearl drum set, top of the line, everything gleaming and perfect.

"We just got it in yesterday" she said, as I circled it, admiring it from all angles. "And it won't be display 'till Monday, but I thought you might like a look at it."

Dude.

"OK. Ready for the only bad piece of news about this set? It costs $500."

I inhaled sharply. "Yeah. Quality don't come cheap, especially with musical instruments. It costs to be cool."

"Someone help me-I think I'm in love!" I said half-jokingly, fluttering my hand over my heart.

"Be in love later" she said, as she and Mush dragged the drum set back into the closet. "Right now, we need to practice."

So we sat down and got to work running through our cover set, which has songs in it like "Fighter", "Can't Hold Us Down", and "Soar" by Christina Aguilera, "Hey, Ho, Let's Go!" by The Ramones, "Desperado" by The Eagles, and "When You Come Back To Me Again" by Garth Brooks, to name a few. Then we have our originals, one of them is called "Made In Middle Earth", Blink and Liz wrote the lyrics after they stayed up all night watching all three movies in a row. They kinda had Lord of the Rings on the brain after that, and they turned their obsession into a song. Then there's "White Chicks", which Liz wrote after a particularly bad brush with the preppy crowd, and she wasn't feeling any love towards them. I composed both melodies.

At 3:00 A.M., I might add.

At 4:45, we called it a day, and had an after-practice powwow. We do it after every practice. What?! It was Blink's idea! Yeesh.

"OK, guys" said Blink, attempting to sound mother hen-ish, and failing miserably.

"Careful, Blink, your gayness is showing!" Liz cracked, punching him lightly on the arm. "You should know, Blink, you sound kinda like Carson on _Queer Eye_. And that's kinda scary."

**LIZ**

As usual, our after-practice powwow degenerated into a circus. Two seconds after we finished, my cell phone rang. It was my aunt Kelly, Spot's mom.

"Hello, Elizabeth. How are you, how's your mom?"

"Hey, Aunt Kelly. I'm good. Mom's working a double shift at the O.R.; she'll be home around 3:00 A.M. As per usual."

"Oh, that's too bad." The obligatory aunt thing to say. "Actually, the reason I'm calling was to ask if you've seen Spot lately. He went out around 9:00 this morning, and I haven't seen him since."

"Did he say anything before he left?" I asked, slightly puzzled.

"Something about…his mind being clouded. Elizabeth? Does that mean anything to you?"

"Not really", I lied. I knew exactly what it meant. "But if I think of anything, I'll call you. I have to go now, Aunt K. I need to close up. And don't worry so much, I'm sure we'll find Spot. I'll see you later."

"Goodbye, Elizabeth."

"_Adios_." I hung up. Everyone was looking at me.

"Who wuzzat?" asked Blink, who was putting his guitar away.

"My Aunt Kelly, looking for Spot" I replied.

"Well, where is he?" asked Blink. "He was supposed to call me back, but he never did. Asshole."

"Hey!"

"No offense, Liz."

"At least it's not the 'fairy and fag hag' joke someone made up at band camp" I muttered, picking at a loose thread on my T-shirt. It was one I'd made, it said, "I took the red pill, and my life is STILL crappy!" I went through a phase when I watched The Matrix for 23 straight days. (A/N: That, by the way, is a lie! LOL!) I'm just slightly insane, ya know?

"He's at the Ellis Island Ferry. If we hurry, Blink, we might be able to catch him. Come on! ¡Vamos! We close in 10 minutes, anyways."

So I shooed everyone out of the store. "Spot has liked the ferry ever since he was little" I explained to Blink as we walked toward the subway station. "He told me 'To clear your mind, you must cloud your eyes'. And he says, since it always seems to be foggy near Liberty Island, it clouds his eyes…and clears his mind."

"Oh" said Blink, looking thoroughly confused. "Makes perfect sense to the two o' youse, I'm sure." And we both laughed.

**SPOT**

OK, I know storming out of the house without telling my mom where I was going wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. But I'm kinda ticked at the world, and I'm a man who's a slave to my passions.

So, where do you go when you're pissed off in NYC?

Well, first, you buy a hot dog and Pepsi off a street vendor, and then you ride the subway all the way to South Ferry, where you then board the Liberty Island Ferry. But it's weird, this is the place where my ex dumped me, yet it's the place that makes me the most happy.

Now that's ironic, Alanis.

All of a sudden, I heard the strains of 'Mr. Mom', being sung as loudly as humanly possible, in an alto range, very throatily. Liz was singing, and Blink was holding onto an umbrella, trying to shield them both from the light rain that had started up, but, like always, she was being the Supreme Queen of All Idiots, and was dancing out from underneath the umbrella, getting herself really wet in the process. Blink was yelling stuff like, "You moron, you're getting all wet!" and "I'm gonna adopt, I ain't gonna get a wife!"

And all the while, we heard, "PAMPERS MELT IN A MAYTAG DRYER, CRAYONS GO UP ONE DRAWER HIGHER! REWIND BARNEY FOR THE FIFTEENTH TIME, BREAKFAST AT SIX, NAPS AT NINE! THERE'S BUBBLE GUM IN THE BABY'S HAIR! SWEET POTATOS IN MY LAZY CHAIR! BEEN CRAZY ALL DAY LONG, AND IT'S ONLY MONDAY, MR. MOM!"

Then, when she reached the bench where I was sitting, she abruptly stopped singing.

"Heya, Spotty, how's it rollin'?" asked Blink, trudging up behind her. "You never called me back, asshole."

"Sorry, Blinky-boi" I said, laughing. "I got kinda…sidetracked, if you will."

"L IS FOR THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ME! O IS FOR THE ONLY ONE I SEE!"-

"SHUT UP, LIZ!" we shouted in unison. She just looked at us for a second, then we each gave her $10, and she trotted off to buy us ferry tickets.

"Anyways…now that the 4th Stooge is gone, what'd you wanna talk to me about, Blinky-boi?" I asked.

"What do you do if…you like someone, and you think they like you too, but you're afraid to ask them out 'cause you're not sure what they're gonna say?"

I looked over at him. "This about Dave, goofball?" He nodded gloomily. "I heard this quote once" I said. "It went something like, 'Live every day like it's your last. Dance like no one's watching. Love as if you'll never get hurt.' So I apply it to my life."

"Thanks, Gandhi" he said grumpily.

"No, but Gandhi did say, 'You must be the change you wish to see in the world'. In other words, Blinky-boi, you gotta take action to get whatcha want. And that includes dates with pretty boys who have nice asses."

He smacked me, then smiled. "Any more advice, Buddah?" he asked.

"Yeah. Don't call me Buddah ever again. It makes me feel fat."

"RUB SPOT'S BELLY FOR LUCK!" he crowed.

"AAAH! NOOO! NOT THE WASHBOARD!" I yelled, laughing madly as I danced out of his grip.

"Not to be confused with Dashboard!" he howled, amused at his own joke.

"COME ON, MORONS!" Liz yelled. "THE FERRY'S HERE!"

"COMING!" I bellowed back. And we took off running, toward the Ellis Island Ferry, and the best damn cheese fries in existence.

**END CHAPTER**

Yeah…and the award for biggest lapse in updating goes to…ME! Not exactly something to be proud of, but I accept it none the less. Anyways, I'm gonna cut the crap and go to shoutouts:

**SHOUTOUTS: **

**Saturday: **Yes, Dutchy is kind of uber-protective, but I love him anyway. He's based largely on the guy at my school that I have a huge-ass crush on. He's oblivious, just like his Newsie counterpart. Yeah, I made Sapphy kind of psycho, but I think she kind of likes it that way, and she shall be as such from now on. Your birthday fic is in the process of being written, I'll get it up as soon as possible. Love ya, thanx for the review!

**Depends Solomon: **Something happens with Blink and Davey in the next chapter, this one was written in a fit of random boredom, it's just to make the charcters seem more three-dimensional. Yeah, band camp sucks, but it pays off in the end, when you get Best Guard and a One rating in one fell swoop! We had to wait a week for Best Drumline, but it was worth it. Thanx for reviewing!

**Coin: **I'm glad you liked your uber-long shoutout. I must, however, make this one kind of short, because I'm supposed to be doing homework. I'm glad you liked the majority of the stuff in the story. Love ya, thanx for the review!

**Erin Go Bragh: **"IN YOUR FACE SIR!" I like that. Very funny. And your whole five points in line thing is pretty much identical to ours, we yelled it every evening after band camp let out. Sorry for writing that you like bologna, I didn't know! LOL! Thanx for the reivew!

**Elvenrarehunter: **Hmmm…your Skitts muse is sure interesting. Your bickering with him certainly amuses me. I LOVE getting your reviews in my inbox!

**Dutchy:** More than you love me?!

**Me:** Get a clue, Dutch. (eye roll)

**Dutchy:** (pouts)

Love ya, thanx for the review!

**Ccatt: **Thank you for saying it was awesome! I know, I have that problem too, I have a really clever comeback line, then when it comes down to the wire, I can't remember it! (shrugs) Oh, well. Thanx for the review!

**Sapphy: **Yes, Idina rocks my SOCKS! By the way, when I wrote this, I was in a 'Wicked' rut, so it pops up in passing in the next two chapters, but I got weaned off of it, so it'll stop appearing all the time. LOL, Spot's got Halloween nails! Love ya, thanks for the review!

Another Author's Note: By the way, the song 'Mr. Mom' belongs to Lonestar. It's not mine! –el sob- Oh, well!


	14. Karaoke

A/N: Well, I'm finally UPDATING!! **WOOT WOOT!! XD **Yippee! I hope y'all like this one, it's kind of random, but I like it, lol! BEWARE: Excessive amounts of randomness, slashy references, and a little too much obsessing over one's ass. Enjoy! (Oh, and by the way, I know Dave has two P.O.V's this chapter, but I didn't realize that until I sat down to type this, so…yeah. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! LOL)

One of Those Days-Ch. 14

****

DAVE

"Oh, I just can't WAIT to be king!" Izzy sang, as she flew around my kitchen like a superball.

"King of the karaoke stage, no doubt?" I chuckled.

"You know it!"

I had invited Izzy over to help me pick out an outfit to wear to The Human Music Box that night, and I did NOT want to look like an Abercrombie and Fitch model.

Which I couldn't, since I don't own any of their clothing.

But anyways…

"So, Dave, I was thinking" Izzy said, and I snapped my attention back to her. "I was thinking, since you don't wanna look uber-preppy, why don't we go with jeans, some type of sneakers (of which I've noticed you have six pairs), and that Dashboard shirt you're hiding at the back of your closet."

"Sure" I said. "As long as I don't look like an A&F model, I'm good."

"Since I'm not really a fashionista, feel free to tweak this" she laughed, pulling out the clothes she'd selected. When I was done, she spun me 360 a couple of times before she was totally satisfied.

"O…K! Not skater punk, but definitely not Abercrombie, which is good, right?"

"Right!" I affirmed. Actually, I was secretly rather pleased. The shirt showed off my arms, which I'd toned with some weight lifting and shot putting back in Chicago.

"So…I'll pick you up at 8, OK, Izzy?" I said, snapping my attention back to the present.

"OK" she said, smiling and giving me a hug. "And don't worry. Once Blink has a beer, he loosens up, and he's a lot easier to get along with. It'll be great! Come on, you've gotta take me home so I can get ready!"

And she dragged me out by one arm to my Taurus, singing 'Defying Gravity' all the while. However, she only knew about half the words, so it sounded like, "Just you and I! Defying gravity! Yadda yadda yadda, defying gravity! And you can't pull me down!"

So I drove her home, and then pulled my cell phone out to call Spot. He answered on the second ring: "This had better be damn good; I'm in the middle of a cheese fries induced orgasm here."

I laughed out loud. Gah, he cracks me up. "Heya, Spotty, how's it rollin'? Is that Blink I hear in the background?"

"Ummm…yeah, yeah it is. My mom!" he stage-whispered to the others. He paused a few moments before speaking again. "Yeah, that was Blink. What's up, Davey-boi?"

"You guys coming to The Human Music Box with us tonight?" I asked.

"Wouldn't miss it."

"Good. Actually, I was calling 'because I had a question about my hair."

"What?"  
"How should I fix it? I'm not good at this kind of thing! Usually I just comb it and go."

"Dude, I can barely do my own hair, let alone someone else's. Ask Liz, hold on a second, and I'll give her the phone."

There was silence, a muffled protest, and then: "Aunt Kelly, I'm SOOOO sorry I lied! It was wrong and I'll never do it again and"-

"It's me, you moron!" I laughed, cutting her off in mid-sentence. "Are you away from Blink?"

"Yeah. Dave?! WTF?! Spot said it was his mom"-

"Well, I guess he lied" I said, cutting her off again.

"Ya know, you have a very annoying habit of cutting me off" she remarked. "Maybe with Blink's tongue in your mouth, it won't happen quite so much."

"LIZ!" I spluttered, wondering if she was a mind-reader."

"You can't deny it, you're not tryin' to hide it!" she sang.

"Can we get back to the issue? I had a question about my hair."

"Shoot."

"What should I do with it? HELP!"

She laughed. "All men are hopeless when it comes to their hair. You've got gel, root spray, and stuff like that, right?"

"Yeah."

"Tell you what. I'll ride the subway back with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, get my car, and then I'll come over and help you with your hair. Sound good to you?"

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK"-

"Aw, shaddup" she said, but she was laughing. "We were about to leave anyways, so I'll see in about 45 minutes, 'K?"

"OK" I said, feeling relieved.

"Gotta go, Davey-boi, Spot's yelling at me to, and I quote, 'Give him back his fucking phone, ya lunatic!' See ya later."

"See ya" I said, and disconnected. True to her word, 40 minutes later, her green minivan came roaring up my driveway, 'Defying Gravity' blaring out of the speakers.

Damn, what is it with people and that song lately?

"Make way for Frederick Fekkai's little sister! HAHA!" she said, laughing.

"Who's Frederick Fekkai?" I asked, leading her to the bathroom.

"And you call yourself a gay man." Then she saw what must've been a blank look on my face.

"He's a stylist."

"Oh."

She plunked me down in front of the bathroom mirror, and ran a couple of her fingers through my hair.

"Pass me the root spray, Dave" she said, a mischievous glint in her eye. She doused my roots, and then used her fingers to scrunch my hair.

"What…what're you doing?" I asked nervously, since I didn't have a clue.

"You have shape, but NO volume whatsoever. So…I'm scrunching! I wish Izzy was doing this, hair is NOT my thing. She is SO much better at this than me at this kind of thing." She finished scrunching, then stepped back to admire the effect.

OK, at this point, I suppose I should mention that I have naturally curly hair. And when it's humid, like in September in New York so often is, it gets frizzy. And all she'd done with the scrunching was increase the natural frizziness. She, of course, started to crack up. I was not amused.

"Shut up!" I snapped, getting a comb wet and running it through my hair. This, of course, only made it frizzier, making her laugh all the harder.

"OK, OK, shut up, it ain't that funny!" I said, pushing her out of my bathroom.

"Oh, come on, Dave, its funny!" she laughed.

"What's Izzy's number? You said she's better at this hair thing, right?"

"Yeah." She rattled it off, still chuckling softly. "Gotta jet, Davey-boi, I'm picking up Blink up at 7:45, and it is now 6:15, so I've got an hour-and-a-half to shower, change, and scarf something down for dinner. This should be interesting."

"Yeah. I've gotta call Izzy, and see if she can help me with my newly found 'fro." This brought on a fresh wave of laughter from her, causing her to almost fall down the stairs.

"Bye, Davey" she managed to get out between bursts of giggles. I heard her car start up, 'Defying Gravity' resumed playing, and she drove away. I sighed, and picked up my phone to call Izzy.

****

BLINK

"IN A LITTLE WHILE! SURELY YOU'LL BE MINE! IN A LITTLE WHILE I'LL BE THERE!" God, I love U2...

But that's not the point, though the song did fit the occasion. I was kind of dancing around to my CD with U2 and Queen on it, while I was supposed to be getting dressed.

I'm kind of strange that way.

I glanced at the clock. 7:03. Liz would be here in 42 minutes, and I still needed to eat something. So I paraded downstairs to the kitchen, found my good friends the Nacho Cheese Doritos, and made a microwave pizza to go with them.

At 7:50, by my watch, Liz pulled up, and we drove off in the direction of the East Village. When we got there, the place was hoppin', not all that unusual for a Saturday night. I mean, my uncle runs a pretty bitchin' bar, if I do say so myself.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my midsection, cutting off my air supply.

"BLINKERS!! HOW'S IT GOIN'?"

"Great, Specs" I managed to choke out between gasps.

There's something I need to mention about Specs: He's more random than Izzy, and that's saying a lot. So, I've gotten used to this, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it.

"Hey, Specs, you're cutting off his windpipe" said Dave, laughing and prying Specs off of me.

"_Gracias_" I said, as a reflex.

"_De nada_" he replied, picking up my Mets hat, which had fallen to the

ground after Specs had tackled me.

I caught my breath when our eyes met.

He had a really tight ass, which was shown off by a pair of tight jeans, and…he was a Dashboard fan!

HELL YEAH!!!

Eventually, I tore my eyes from Dave's ass, and we found seats and got drinks.

"Who's gonna go first?!" I asked, bouncing up and down from nervous energy.

"I think Dave should" Izzy said, laughing and slapping Coin a high-five.

Dave turned bright pink, but more from surprise than anything, I think.

"OK" he said, smiling at her, winking at me, and then going over to the sign-up table. There wasn't a huge line; a lot of people just come to watch.

"Up next, we have David Jacobs!" came the voice of Jaime, the announcer. She's my Uncle Jeff's girlfriend, but she still gets paid. She's pretty cool. Anyways, Dave was up there, fidgeting with the hem of his T-shirt, waiting for the music to come on. When it did, I recognized it instantly.

And my heart stopped.

It was a slow song, almost a ballad, with a heavy guitar and piano opening, what some would call 'poignant'. And when he started to sing, in a beautiful tenor voice, I was gone. I melted into a little puddle.

"Good morning, beautiful. How was your night? Mine was wonderful, with you by my side, and when I, open my eyes, and see your sweet face, it's a

Good morning beautiful day."

And as I sat there and listened to him sing, I realized something. If I wasn't before, I was now.

I was head-over-heels in love.

__

Oy vay.

I need a drink.

****

COIN

"Woo-hoo! Go Dave!"

After he'd finished singing 'Good Morning Beautiful' jaw-droopingly well, Liz and Sapphy got up to sing 'Defying Gravity', 'because they both agreed it was the best song ever. My favorite part is the crescendo: "Just you and I, defying gravity! With you and I, defying gravity! They'll never bring us down!" Their voices just kind of…meshed.

"So if you care to find me!" Liz belted. "Look to the Western skies! As someone told me lately, everyone deserves a chance to fly!"

They'd drawn straws, and Liz had gotten to be Idina, much to Sapphy's chagrin.

"Tell them how I'm defying gravity! I'm flying high, defying gravity! And soon I'll match them in renown!"

She went into a little dance, which made Dutchy roll his eyes and grin, Sapphy look horrified, and Izzy and burst out laughing.

"No one mourns the wicked, so we've got bring her…"

"Aaaaaah!"

"Down!"

The song ended with a crash, and they both went into huge, dramatic bows.

"In all fairness, Sapph" Liz said as they took their seats, "You Idina more justice than I do. I just…got lucky."

"Yeah, you're right. Idina is my goddess, I do her more credit."

"Don't let it go to your head!" she joked. "I do a mean Ashlee Simpson."

"Yeah, in your demented mind!" snickered Race. She punched him in the arm, and he started cussing in Italian.

Which, of course, caused Izzy to start cooing and fussing over him?

She's such a Jewish mother.

"So, who's next?" Sapphy asked, knocking back her shot of tequila.

"Um…I guess I'll go" said Snitch, blushing all over. Skitts hadn't come with him, which was weird enough, but he's usually quite introverted.

We all cheered him as he walked away, looking quite apprehensive. When he got up onstage, he looked like he was drowning in the spotlight.

Then the music started, soft and steady.

"One song, glory. One song, before I go. Glory! One song to leave behind! Find-one song, one last refrain. Glory! From the pretty boy front man, who wasted opportunity?"

Our whole table had gotten hold of matches and were waving them around, since we were a little short of lighters for 15 people.

On the stage, Snitch had visibly relaxed, and he really seemed to be getting into it.

"Time flies! And then no need to endure anymore! Time dies…"

He walked off the stage to thunderous applause, cheers, and whistles.

"Hey, Snitch, that was really good" said Blink, plunking a Shirley Temple down in front of him. Snitch refuses to drink anything but Shirley Temples but he usually ends up pouring a little bit of someone else's drink in it.

"Thanks" said Snitch, downing half in one gulp. "Now. Which of you puny mortals dare to follow in the illustrious footsteps of RENT?!"

****

DAVE

Liz went, then Blink. Liz was OK, she sang "Love Me For Me" by Ashlee Simpson, and she kept glancing pointedly at Dutchy, who seemed absolutely clueless.

But she's not important right now. (Wow, she'd castrate me if she heard me say that…)

But when Blink went, it was just…indescribable. He had a rich bass voice that could go from loud to soft in an instant. He sang "When Someone Like You Loved Me" from Jekyll and Hyde, and I saw more than one knowing look being passed around the table.

And they were right. I had it bad.

The thought scared me, so I went to the bar and got another beer.

I shouldn't have done that.

But I wouldn't know that 'till later. As in, too late. 'Cause that was my third beer.

On stage, Blink was winding down. "My heart's taken wing, and I feel so alive! 'Cause someone like you…loved me."

He bowed, and did a rather manly twirl off stage. This, of course, sent me into hysterics.

Liz and Izzy looked at me with their eyebrows raised. "Dave, it wasn't that funny" Liz said, peering at me. "How much have you had to drink, anyway?"

I gestured to my bottle. "Three."

"You might wanna lay off, Davey" said Blink, sitting down next to me. "We don't want you to end up in the hospital again, now, do we?"

In answer, I just gulped down the rest of my beer. Liz sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Whoa" I said, clutching my head. "I feel kinda…woozy…"

"Dave?!" I heard someone say.

"Oh, fuck this, not again!" someone exclaimed.

"Dave! Dave! Can you hear me?!" Blink yelled. Don't ask me how I know, I just did.

And that was all I heard.

Then the world went black.

A/N: Wow, it's been awhile since I updated, but they'll forgive me…right?

((crickets chirp))

((Elbows muses)) RIGHT?!

Asshole!Race: Dunno why they would. I sure wouldn't.

Dutchy!muse: Well, that's you, ya weirdo! ((hugs me))

SexyBlink!muse: Yeah! ((kicks Race!muse))

All right, all right, you guys, break it up! Hopefully they'll forgive me for taking so long to update. And if they don't…well, whatever. On to shoutouts!!

All!muses: YEAH, SHOUTOUTS!!!

****

SHOUTOUTS:

Saturday: I got "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" for Christmas! WHEE!! Anyways…yeah, hope you enjoyed RENT. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (Wow, your shoutout is short…but usually it's long, so it's OK. LOL! Thanx for reviewing!)

****

Sapphy: Hope you don't mind you sang Glinda's part; I really did flip a coin to see who would sing whose part when I got to writing that part. Did you have a good Christmas? Mine was cool, I got a computer for my room out of it (trying to hook up the Internet so I don't have to go downstairs to update, though)! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

****

Depends Solomon: Hey, have you read my marching band story? It's rather…interesting, to say the least, lol! Something definitely happened with Dave and Blink this chapter, and something ELSE happens next chapter! LOL! WHEE! (Wow, I'm high on caffeine, it is now… (Looks at computer clock)…1:43 a.m., CST, January 2, 2005. (Wow…2005...where'd '04 go? LOL) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

****

Erin Go Bragh: (see the beginning of previous shoutout) Anyways…I can't think of what else to type, so…HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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Ccatt: (sings loudly and off-key) THIS IS MY UPDATE, HOPE YOU LIKE IT! LALALALALALALALALALALA…

All!muses: (die from the horribleness of it all)

ME: Screw you all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

****

Elvenrarehunter: Your Skittas!muse really needs to come back, he's quite amusing, and he makes your reviews really funny. (They're fine by themselves, he just makes them better, lol). HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

A/N: Wow, it's only been…FOREVER since I updated, so I hope y'all can forgive me!

Asshole!Race: Didn't we go through this…(checks) half a page ago?!

Me: Shut up, you asshole.

Asshole!Race: (proudly) That's me name, don't wear it out!

Other!muses: (tackle Asshole!Race)

Me: It's dealing with a bunch of five-year-olds. Seriously, though, reviews would be MUCH appreciated, or even two…not that I'm begging for attention, or anything…(shifty eyes)…OK, so I am. No flames though, _por favor_, 'cause that would be like finding out…like finding out my friends are moving to Iowa and never coming back.

****

AS I LIVE AND BREATHE!! AN UPDATE!!

Love you, Eric!

Love,

Liz


	15. Oh, Goodie

A/N: Wow, I haven't updated this in, like…forever! And I really missed it. ((Hugs the non-entity that is the story)) So, yeah…I can't think of any clever witty way to open this, and my muses are off at a day spa, so we'll just get right down to it, shall we? All right-y then!

One of Those Days-Ch.15

"I have no love for any man who despises music. I place it next to theology." Martin Luther

SAPPHY

When I got the news, all I could think was, "Please don't let this become a habit with him."

So I piled Snitch, Coin, and Izzy into my car, and then rushed off to St. Joe's.

"I swear I had no part is this!" Spot was saying as we walked in.

"No one's accusing you, Spot!" Liz snapped. She sighed and shoved her hair angrily out of her face. "I'm just scared to death."

I gave Spot a hug; he still looked rather put out. "We all are. But they fixed him last time; most likely they can fix him again."

"They said they'll call us when they figure something out" said Blink from the floor. He was curled up on the ground, his arms around his knees. He looked like he'd been crying.

I was about to go over and hug him, when a doctor came out and said, "Friends of David Jacobs?"

I think he was surprised there were so many of us.

"That's us" said Blink. "Is he OK?"

"He's stable. Mr. Jacobs had a lingering trace of a toxin in his system. Some kind of depressant, we haven't been able to figure out exactly what yet, though. That combined with the alcohol he drank this evening"-He clapped his hands for emphasis-"It was like sodium and water." Blink paled. "Fortunately, he's quite a fighter, and we were able to purge some of the toxin. But he still hasn't built up an immunity to this substance; he'll have to sweat the rest out."

Blink turned, if possible, even whiter. He muttered something that sounded like, "Conlon, you bastard."

"What room is he in, Doctor?" asked Snitch.

"587. Only three in at a time, please."

"Thank you, Doctor" said Liz.

"You're very welcome, kids. And don't worry; I'm sure he'll be all right."

The look on Blink's face said, "Uh-huh, suuuuuure" but he nodded along with everyone else.

So we took the elevator up to the 5th floor, and most of the guys (sans Blink, natch) went downstairs to find a snack. This left me, Coin, Izzy, Blink, Liz, Braids, and Mandie.

"Who wants to go in first?" I asked.

"I'll go" said Blink.

"Naturally" said Coin, from her position on the floor. Izzy and Braids were asleep on the floor with their heads on each other's shoulders.

"I wanna go!" I said.

"No one's st-st-stopping you, Sapph" said Mandie, through a yawn. It was, after all, four past midnight. **100 points to the person who can name the author of "Four Past Midnight". LOVE that book!**

"I'll go too, I guess" Liz said, getting up and blinking the drowsiness out of her eyes. "I can give the moron back his phone; he knocked it off the table when he passed out."

So Blink knocked softly on the door, and a groggy voice called out, "Come in". Dave was propping himself up on his elbows, looking at us like we were the Duck People from the planet Quack-Quack 2, or something equally nutty. And, I mean, you can't really blame him, we were decked out kind of strange. Blink was wearing black cargo pants, and a white T-shirt we made him for his birthday, that had all kinds of funny sayings and inside jokes on it, like "Bite the wax tadpole!" (A/N: Anyone who REALLY wants to know what that means e-mail or IM me, if they so desire.) I was wearing my bleached jeans, which were bedecked with glittering galaxy likes swirls, and a black T-shirt with a picture of Idina Menzel from 'Wicked' on it. And Liz was wearing dark blue hip huggers and this funky T-shirt she found in Chinatown that spelled out 'Have You Ever?' in Chinese characters.

Yeah, I know. We looked like we escaped from the loony bin behind Goodwill.

But he smiled once he realized who we were, and I felt relief sweep over me. At least that part of his brain still worked.

"Hey, doofus" Liz said, giving Dave a hug. "You knocked you phone on the floor when you passed out." She laid it on his bedside table.

"Thanks" he said, and she squeezed his hand.

"Ya know, goofball, people are gonna think you're faking" I said, elbowing Liz out of my way so I could hug him.

"Yeah, me and this delightful fake pain" he said, wincing slightly. Then we heard and knock and Izzy poked her head in.

"Uh, guys? After Braids fell asleep, Mandie thought it would be fun to draw on her arms. Now she wants to kill her. Can you come out here for a second?"

We sighed, and rolled our eyes, but we trooped out anyways.

I give 'em 60 seconds 'till they start making out.

BLINK

"You know, dude, if hospitals could sing, this one would be singing "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me" from 42nd Street" I said, laughing.

"I hate hospitals" he said, blushing and sliding further under the covers. "They smell funny, and the nurses will know me by first name before long." I laughed. "Hey, Blink? Shut the door, will ya? I wanna ask you a question."

I slid off the bed and kicked the door closed (cue the chorus of "Oooooooh" from outside), then walked over and sat down next to him again.

"I was thinking…" he said, twisting his sheets around his long, slender fingers. "After I get outta here…you wanna do something? Not with the whole gang, just…just with me" he finished quietly.

"Sure!" I said, trying not to sound over eager. "Like when?"

"How 'bout after State, two weeks from now? We can celebrate the end of marching band, and the end of all this madness."

I smiled. "Sounds great." Then I took a deep breath, leaned over, and kissed him. Last time, he'd been unconscious, and unable to really respond,…

But not this time. And let me tell you, that boy is one HELL of a kisser.

I broke out of the kiss, and smiled at him. "At this rate, the only time we're gonna make out is in a hospital."

He grinned back. "Yeah yeah yeah, I've learned my lesson." He blinked a couple of times. "Whoa…I think my medicine's kicking in again. I'm feeling kind of…drowsy." As if to validate his point, his nodded a couple of times.

I laughed softly. "I've gotta get going anyways. I'll see ya later, OK?"

"OK. _Buenas noches._"

"_Buon notte."_

I walked out of the room feeling extremely satisfied with myself.

"So…what's up Blinkers?" asked Sapphy, with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, Blinky-boi, you didn't jump his drugged-up bones?" laughed Coin, smacking Sapphy a high-five.

I mock-glared at the pair of them. "No, I didn't 'jump his bones' as you put it. He's kinda groggy right now, he's sleeping."

The pair of them put their arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

"He'll be OK" said Jack, coming up behind us, Spot trailing in his wake.

And Jack says he's not gay. Pfuit! I totally saw them making out in a corner.

Love it!

God, I'm turning into an Ella.**END CHAPTER**

**SHOUTOUTS:**

**Depends Solomon:** W00T, I'm giving you a shoutout even though you didn't review! How cool is THAT! LOL! And look, something actually HAPPENED this chapter! Love ya, thanx for the review!

Ummm...I don't remember who else reviewed, it's late, I'm tired, so here's a MASSIVE shoutout for you all:

**YOU GUYS ROCK MY SOCKS AND I LOOOOOVE YOU GUYS A LOT! XD! **

Plz review! Latah, love ya, bye!


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